r- 


Words  and  Sentences 


INCLUDING 


A  Review  of  Grammar 


BY 


ALFKED   M.    HITCHCOCK 

Hartford  Public  High  School 


NEW  YORK 
HENRY    HOLT   AND   COMPANY 


BV  THE   SAME   AUTHOR 

Hitchcock's  Practice  Book  in 
English  Composition 

226  pp.      12 mo.     80  cents 

Eennetll  Beal,  Salem  {Mass )  High  School:— 1\.  is  the  first 
case  of  a  book  on  that  subject  that  I  know  of  where  the  writer 
has  had  the  courageous  good  sense  to  limit  his  effort  rigidly  to 
actual  possibilities  for  the  average  boy  and  girl.  .  .  .  You 
may  put  me  on  record  as  liking  the  wholesome,  live  good  sense 
of  the  composition, 

Helen  Marshall,  Free  Academy,  Norwich,  Conn.:— I  have 
been  experimenting  with  the  Practice  Book  in  English  Com- 
position in  one  of  my  classes,  and  find  it  is  one  of  the  most 
practical  books  I  have  seen  for  teaching  much  of  the  rudiment- 
ary work.     It  is  just  what  it  professes  to  be,  and  is  very  helpful. 

A.  J.  George,  Newton  {Mass.)  High  School: — After  examin- 
ing the  book,  1  have  decided  to  recommend  it  for  trial. 

R.  W.  Bowles,  Phillip's  Exeter  Academy:—!  am  glad  to 
say  that  Mr.  Hitchcock's  little  book  has  impressed  me  more 
favorably  than  any  other  work  of  this  kind  that  I  have  seen. 
The  author's  treatment  of  the  subject  seems  to  be  unusually 
fresh  and  interesting.  I  shall  turn  it  over  to  our  teacher  in 
Junior  ^vork  with  my  earnest  recommendation  that  he  give  it 
a  trial. 

Mary  R.  "Willai'd,  Jam-stcwn  yN.  F.)  High  School:— Ut. 
Hitchcock's  understanding  of  the  faults  of  young  students,  and 
his  appl*c£.ficn  of  '.hepyoper  remedy,   amounts  to  positive 

ge'niv^'  :■';,':'..     ':;'.,;  /•'•,,  . 

Henry    Holt     and     Company 

Publishers  New  York 


Copyright,  1908,  by  HENRY   HOLT   AND  COMPANY 


MA^f^' 


PREFACE 


The  exercises  here  collected  are  the  result  of  a 
strong  conviction  that  just  now,  in  these  days  of 
slovenly,  lawless  speech,  we  teachers  need  to  say  to 
our  pupils,  Come,  before  it  is  too  late  let  us  go  back 
to  dictionary  and  grammar.  No  matter  what  else  is 
left  undone,  we  must  learn  to  spell  and  pronounce  com- 
mon words  correctly;  we  must  learn  how  to  construct 
sentences  that  obey  the  laws  of  syntax. 

At  what  point  in  the  course  may  such  exercises  as 
these  be  introduced  with  profit?  In  most  schools,  it 
is  safe  to  say,  drill  in  accuracy  of  speech  is  needed 
every  year.  We  have  all  too  little  of  it  and — this 
is  heresy — far  too  much  theme-writing,  too  much 
and  too  elaborate  study  of  heavy  classics.  The 
foundations  are  neglected. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  acknowledge  in  detail  my 
indebtedness  to  Archbishop  Trench  and  to  the  recog- 
nized authorities  on  English  grammar.  A  book  of 
this  sort  cannot  hope  to  be  original,  except,  perhaps, 
as  ingenuity  may  occasionally  be  shown  in  setting 
forth  principles  clearly,  or  in  devising  exercises  to 
drive  them  home. 

iii 

241052 


CONTENTS 

I 
WOEDS 

PAGE 

I.  Getting  Acquainted  with  the  Dictionary 1 

II.  Pronunciation 11 

III.  Word-building  and  Spelling 17 

II 
A  BRIEF   REVIEW   OF   GRAMMAR..      35 


WORDS    AND     SENTENCES 

PART    I 

WORDS 

I.— GETTING  ACQUAINTED  WITH  THE 
DICTIONARY 

The  English  language  is  made  up  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  words.  Not  all  of  these  are  in  use  to- 
day; some  are  found  only  in  very  old  books,  and  still 
others  are  slowly  dying.  When  the  spinning-wheel 
went  out  of  use,  a  small  group  of  spinning-wheel 
terms  slipped  away  because  there  was  nothing  for 
them  to  do.  When  the  stage-coach  disappeared, 
along  with  it  went  a  little  vocabulary  pertaining  to 
stage-coach  things.  Every  important  invention,  we 
may  almost  say  every  change  in  fashion,  retires,  some- 
times permanently,  a  few  words — renders  them  ob- 
solete. 

Related  in  a  way  to  obsolete  words  are  not  a  few 
terms  that  are  in  every-day  use,  yet  are  found  in  some 
small  province  only.     The  English-speaking  people 


2  AVOKDS   AND   SENTENCES 

are  widely  scattered;  and  though  all  have  the  same 
names  for  most  things,  still  each  country,  each  sec- 
tion of  a  country,  each  community  even,  has  a  few 
words  that  are  not  found  elsewhere,  or  if  found  else- 
where, then  with  different  meanings.  There  are 
terms  peculiar  to  the  English  colonies  in  Africa,  for 
example.  New  Englanders  employ  a  few  terms  that 
sound  strange  to  the  ear  of  the  Southerner.  Pro- 
vincialisms, as  such  stay-at-home  words  are  called, 
are  to  be  found  everywhere,  doing  good  service,  but 
in  a  narrow  field. 

Every  art,  trade,  occupation,  science  has  its  sepa- 
rate vocabulary  of  technical  terms.  The  lawyer  em- 
ploys many  expressions  that  are  meaningless  to  most 
of  us;  so  too  does  the  doctor.  It  is  said  that  the 
student  of  zoology  who  reads  all  that  has  been  written 
on  this  branch  of  science  will  find  over  one  hundred 
thousand  terms  employed,  comparatively  few  of 
which  are  in  common  use.  Every  line  of  manufac- 
ture, every  branch  of  sport  even,  has  its  technical 
terms.  They  do  not  stay  at  home  as  do  provincial- 
isms, but  each  group  is  of  special  service  to  some 
one  class  of  individuals. 

A  recently  published  dictionary  defines  over  three 
hundred  thousand  terms,  all  of  which,  it  is  claimed, 
are  in  active  use  to-day  or  are  to  be  found  in  books 
that  English-speaking  people  may  care  to  read. 
This  number  is  amazing,  especially  when  we  bear  in 
mind  that  many  obsolete  and  provincial  words  and 
a  far  greater  number  of  technical  terms  have  been 


ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  DICTIONARY       3 

excluded.  The  dictionary  is  even  more  select  than 
this.  Every  day  new  words  come  into  existence. 
When  things  are  discovered  or  invented,  they  must 
be  named.  How  many  terms  associated  with  steam 
and  electricity  were  unknown  a  century  ago!  Ex- 
ploration, trade,  manufacture,  science,  all  are  con- 
tributing each  year  a  large  number  of  new  words. 
But  not  all  these  find  their  way  at  once  into  the 
dictionary.  They  must  first  be  tried,  passed  about 
from  mouth  to  mouth  for  a  time,  experimented  with, 
till  it  is  reasonably  sure  that  they  are  really  needed. 

Not  only  is  the  dictionary  cautious  in  accepting 
newly  coined  words,  as  they  are  called;  it  is  careful, 
though  perhaps  not  sufficiently  so,  about  admitting 
many  expressions  commonly  heard  on  the  street  or 
wherever  people  talk  loosely — words  that  are  ex- 
ceedingly coarse  and  vulgar,  others  that  are  what  we 
know  as^ang.  Such  colloquial  or  loose  expressions 
are  seldom  found  in  print.  They  dwell  on  the  out- 
skirts of  respectability,  unfit  to  appear  in  good 
societ}^;  or  we  may  think  of  them  as  vagrants. 
Occasionally  a  word  of  this  sort  works  its  way  out 
of  the  slums  of  speech  and  at  last  gains  admittance 
to  the  dictionary;  yet  where  one  succeeds  in  living 
down  its  low  origin,  hundreds  remain  but  mouth- 
words,  without  respectability.  Most  of  them  live 
but  a  short  time. 

The  immensity  of  the  English  language,  even  when 
we  exclude  the  relatively  unimportant  groups  of 
words  just   considered — the  obsolete,  the  provincial, 


4  WORDS   AND  SENTENCES 

the  technical,  the  newly  coined,  the  colloquial  or 
loose— is  difficult  to  reahze,  except  as  one  compares 
it  with  his  own  scant  vocabulary.  Shakespeare,  we 
are  told,  used  at  least  fifteen  thousand  different  words, 
Milton  eight  thousand.  The  average  man  of  to-day, 
it  is  estimated,  employs  about  five  thousand.  But 
how  about  you?  How  much  of  the  English  language 
do  you  possess?  In  a  way,  it  is  all  yours;  in  a  truer 
sense,  no  one  really  owns  a  word  till  he  has  mastered 
i^_can  pronounce  it,  spell  it,  and  knows  precisely 
what  it  means.  If  you  were  to  attempt  to  make  a 
dictionary  and  record  in  it  simply  the  words  you  have 
thoroughly  mastered,  the  words  which  you  really 
own,  what  would  be  the  result? 

Fortunately  no  one  will  ever  set  a  task  so  unreason- 
able. Every  schoolboy  knows  that  his  vocabulary 
is  a  s^;iall  one,  that  he  misspells,  mispronounces,  mis- 
uses many  of  the  terms  he  commonly  employs.  It  is 
no  disgrace  to  be  young;  most  of  the  blunders,  care- 
less mistakes  which  fall  from  the  lips  of  schoolboys 
and  schoolgirls,  or  slip  from  their  pens  in  writing 
letters,  are  pardonable.  Yet  a  time  should  come, 
and  usually  does  come,  when  the  average  youth  be- 
gins to  feel  ashamed  when  he  blunders  in  his  speech. 
He  wants  to  put  away  childish  errors.  He  prefers 
not  to  misspell,  mispronounce,  and  misuse  words. 
Perhaps  someone  has  laughed  at  him  for  spelling 
college  with  a  d,  or  for  pronouncing  gentlemen  as  if  it 
were  spelled  genlemnn,  or  for  writing  Mary's  voice 
was  edible  as  jar  as  the  corner,  or  for  closing  a  letter 


ACQUAINTANCE    WITH    DICTIONARY     5 

•a  i^Jii  <?]... 

with   Yours  respectively.    It  is  not  pleasant  to  be 
laughed   at. 

t^eforming  one's  speech,  however,  is  not  an  easy 
matter.  Many  of  the  words  found  in  the  youth's 
vocabulary  have  been  picked  up  by  the  ear,  on  the 
street,  on  the  playground;  the  eye  may  never  have 
seen  them  in  the  printed  page.  And  many  words  are 
so  commonly  mispronounced,  or  indistinctly  uttered, 
or  improperly  employed,  that  the  ear  does  not  re- 
ceive what  is  correct.  Other  terms  are  acquired 
from  reading;  but  the  young  reader  rushes  along  so 
rapidly  that  the  eye  merely  glances  at  words  and 
does  not  hesitate  to  skip  whatever  looks  difficult  in 
the  way  of  long  or  strange  expressions.  In  this  most 
natural  manner  the  mind  receives  many  words  which 
have  been  imperfectly  seen ;  the  memory  is  crowded 
with  wrong  or  indistinct  impressions.  It  is  indeed 
difficult,  where  so  much  needs  correcting,  to  de- 
termine where  and  how  to  begin.  Here  are  a  few 
simple  suggestions.] 

First,  be  convinced  that  the  undertaking  is  worth 
while.  Every  word  mastered  is  a  word  owned;  it  is 
so  much  power.  We  need  all  the  power  we  can  get, 
in  this  busy  age.  A  large  vocabulary  may  not  be  re- 
_£uired  for  the  work  you  are  to  do,  but  a  fully  mas- 
tered vocabulary  is  necessary.  Mistakes  in  speech 
are  costly;  they  cause  delays  and  misunderstand- 
ings. Have  too  a  little  pride  in  the  matter.  In- 
correct speech  is  the  badge  of  illiteracy. 

Second,  be  more  careful  about  what  you  read  and 


6  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

how  you  read.  Form  the  habit  of  reading  aloud  ten 
minutes  every  day,  scanning  each  word  closely,  pro- 
nouncing distinctly,  bringing  out  clearly  the  mean- 
ing  of  each  sentence.  No  book  is  better  for  this 
kind  of  drill  than  the  Bible,  but  any  good  book  will 
do,  or  even  the  daily  newspaper.  Memorize  a  short 
poem,  now  and  then,  or  a  paragraph  of  vigorous 
prose.  \The  purpose  of  exercise  of  this  sort  is  to  train 
the  eye  and  the  ear  and  the  tongue  to  do  their  work 
more  carefully.  \ 

Third,  take  pains  to  use  language  correctly  when 
talking  and  writing.  Break  yourseK  of  the  habit  of 
careless  expression.  The  little  training  received  in 
school  will  amount  to  nothing,  if  you  permit  your- 
self to  abuse  language  w^hen  you  are  on  the  street  or 
at  home.  Correct  expression  conies  through  habit. 
Keep  in  training  all  the  time. 

Finally,  try  to  become  interested  in  words;  learn 
to  respect  them.  Studying  coins  or  stamps  is  not  a 
foolish  fad,  neither  is  collecting  picture  postals;  but 
words  are  more  interesting  than  coins  or  stamps  or 
postals,  and  are  better  worth  studying.  On  the 
Study  of  Words,  by  Archbishop  Trench,  though 
written  years  ago,  is  a  most  delightful  book  for 
present-day  readers.  Words  and  their  Ways  in  Eng- 
lish Speech,  by  Greenough  and  Kittredge,  a  more  re- 
cent work,  contains  many  interesting  chapters.  But 
the  best  book  of  all  is  the  dictionary  itself.  By  all 
means  own  a  good  one  and  learn  how  to  use  it. 

Looked  at  in  one  way,  the  dictionary  is  a  vast 


ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  DICTIONARY       7 

collection  of  condensed  compositions,  each  telling  all 
that  the  average  person  needs  to  know  about  some 
word:  how  it  is  spelled  and  pronounced,  and  what 
are  its  meanings.  Frequently  a  quotation  containing 
the  word  properly  used  will  be  given ;  and  sometimes 
a  group  of  synonyms,  or  terms  which  have  nearly  the 
same  meaning.  The  dictionary  does  more  than  this. 
Whenever  possible,  it  tells  the  life-story  of  a  word — 
where  it  came  from,  what  it  meant  originally;  for 
many  words  change  in  meaning  from  age  to  age,  just 
^s  a  person'^  character  changes  during  his  lifetime. 

But  there  is  another  way  of  regarding  the  diction- 
ary. It  is  a  great  law  book.  Ours  is  a  free  country, 
yet  we  are  not  free  to  do  as  we  please.  We  must  en- 
dure, for  the  common  good,  restraint  of  many  kinds. 
Words  are  free;  but  when  we  misuse  them  we  be- 
come law-breakers.  One  has  no  more  right  to  abuse 
or  misuse  his  country's  language  than  he  has  to  de- 
stroy his  neighbor's  property.  The  dictionary,  stem 
book,  lays  down  laws  regarding  spelling,  pronuncia- 
tion, meanings,  which  word-respecting  people  obe)^ 

Form  the  habit,  then,  of  consulting  a  good,  un- 
abridged dictionary.  See  what  the  law  says  about 
this  and  that  term  which  you  are  using  commonly, 
yet  with  a  suspicion  that  you  may  be  using  it  im- 
properly. Lay  down  the  book  you  are  reading,  now 
and  then,  and  look  up  the  meaning  of  some  new  word. 
If  an  expression  has  an  odd  sound  to  your  ear,  and 
you  find  yourself  wondering  where  it  came  from,  how 
it  got  its  present  meaning,  turn  to  the  dictionary .j 


i. 


8  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

Perhaps  it  will  tell  you  precisely  what  you  wish  to 
know.  Practice  of  this  kind  soon  becomes  fascinat- 
ing, for  words  are  wonderful  when  studied. 


EXERCISES 

I.  Reread  Chapter  One  to  see  if  it  does  not  contain  a 
few  words  about  whose  meanings  you  are  uncertain. 
Before  consulting  the  dictionary,  try  to  reason  out  for 
yourself  what  each  word  must  mean. 

II.  Open  the  dictionary  at  random  and  select  an  in- 
teresting word.  Give,  in  complete  sentences,  all  the 
information  the  dictionary  supplies  concerning  it.     . 

III.  Without  consulting  a  dictionary,  try  to  discover 
how  the  following  terms  became  a  part  of  the  English 
language:  grunt,  hiss,  mew,  snarl,  twitter,  whiz,  click, 
chatter,  chirp,  crackle.  What  other  words  of  this  sort 
can  you  suggest? 

IV.  The  following  are  representatives  of  a  class  of 
words  which  have  come  into  the  language  in  an  inter- 
esting way.  Try  to  discover  their  origin,  consulting  for 
this  purpose  an  unabridged  dictionary.  Italics,  canary, 
champagne,  meander,  worsted,  cologne,  copper,  atlas, 
herculean,  tantalize,  martial,  phaeton,  volcano,  cereal, 
panic,  macadam,  guy,  babel,  tawdry,  quixotic,  bedlam, 
lynch,  mackintosh,  gingham,  damask,  dimity,  dollar, 
calico,  cambric,  boycott,  derrick,  artesian,  guillotine,  pidl- 
man,  pompadour,  dunce,  namby-pamby,  colossal. 

V.  Nearly  one-third  of  our  language  is,  directly  or 
indirectly,  of  Latin  origin;  but  every  nation  has  con- 
tributed a  few  terms.     Where  did  each  of  the  following 


ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  DICTIONARY      9 

originate?  First  guess,  then  consult  the  dictionary. 
Wigmam,  potato,  tea,  candy,  yacht,  sabbath,  soprano, 
adieu,  postscript,  telephone,  chess,  snob,  perk,  lad,  bun- 
galow, mosquito,  tulip,  ambassador,  daisy,  czar,  canoe, 
physics,  minister,  crag,  dairy. 

VI.  Often  words  become  doubly  interesting  when 
their  derivation  is  known.  Thimble,  for  example,  comes 
from  an  old  Anglo-Saxon  word  thunia  meaning  thumb. 
Was  the  thimble  once  worn  on  the  thumb?  Squirrel  is 
from  a  Greek  word  meaning  shadow-tail.  So  a  squirrel  is 
an  animal  that  casts  a  shadow  with  its  tail?  Look  up 
the  derivation  of  the  following:  Emma,  Margaret,  silly j 
lunatic,  cranberry,  miser,  witch,  cunning,  salary,  style, 
indent,  pope,  curfew,  linen,  acrobat,  villain,  sophomore, 
dandelion,  buxom. 

VII.  Sometimes  the  full  force  of  a  word  is  not  appre- 
ciated until  its  derivation  is  known.  Dilapidated,  for 
example,  is  from  a  Latin  word  lapis  meaning  a  stone, 
and  the  prefix  dis  meaning  apart.  Knowing  this,  the 
word  presents  to  the  mind  a  picture  of  a  stone  building 
tumbled  down.  Consulting  a  good  dictionary,  try  to 
discover  the  original  meaning  of  the  following:  December, 
manuscript,  bisect,  phonograph,  quadruped,  bicycle,  Flor- 
ida, subterranean,  centennial,  accumulate,  manufacture, 
error,  eradicate,  circus,  valedictory,  alderman,  journey, 
neighbor,  arduous,  wealth,  mayor,  Sunday,  Monday, 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday,  Saturday. 

VIII.  The  first  ten  words  in  the  group  below  are 
Saxon;  the  rest  are  Norman-French.  At  one  time  the 
Saxons  and  the  Normans  lived  side  by  side  in  England. 
Which  were  the  conquerors  and  which  the  conquered 
people?    Scepter,   throne,   royalty,   court,   castle,   prince, 


10  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

^palace,  treasurer,  hall,  duke;  spade,  rake,  scythe,  rye,  oats, 
house,  home,  hearth. 

IX.  Explain  the  meaning  of  the  following  terms  as 
applied  to  words:  obsolete,  provincial,  technical,  newly 
coined,  slang,  colloquial.  Try  to  think  of  examples  of 
each  kind.  You  will  find  in  the  Bible  many  words  no 
longer  used  in  common  speech.  Strictly  speaking, 
however,  they  are  not  obsolete,  but  archaic.  Archaic 
means  out  of  fashion  but  still  understood.  If  you  have 
a  friend  who  has  at  some  time  lived  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  country,  you  will  notice,  probably,  that  he  has 
in  his  vocabulary  a  few  provincial  expressions. 


II.— PRONUNCIATION 

Clear  enunciation  does  not  make  a  gentleman, 
but  it  is  a  sign  of  good  breeding.  Educated  people, 
refined,  courteous  people,  those  who  respect  lan- 
guage and  are  thoughtful  of  the  comfort  of  others,  try 
to  speak  distinctly  and  correctly.  They  consider  it 
ill-mannered,  when  reading  aloud  or  talking,  to  mum- 
ble their  words,  misplace  accents,  clip  syllables,  or 
otherwise  abuse  language. 

Mispronunciation  is  due  principally  to  carelessness. 
We  know  how  most  of  the  commoner  words  should 
be  pronounced,  but  we  are  slaves  to  habit — the  habit 
of  reading  and  talking  too  rapidly.  Ruskin,  a  great 
English  essayist,  once  said,  ''If  you  read  ten  pages  of 
a  good  book,  letter  by  letter,  that  is  to  say,  with  real 
accuracy,  you  are  for  evermore  in  some  measure  an 
educated  person."  This  kind  of  careful  reading,  the 
eye  noting  every  syllable,  every  letter,  must  form  the 
Jbasis  of  all  serious  effort  to  learn  how  to  pronounce. 
Butthe  ear  must  help  the  eye,  intently  listening  when 
those  whom  it  is  safe  to  imitate  are  reading  aloud 
_or  Jalking.     And  the  vocal  organs  must  be  trained  to 

11 


12  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

obey;  for  it  is  one  thing  to  know  how  a  given  word 
should  be  pronounced,  and  quite  another  thing  to  be 
able  to  pronounce  it.  Training  the  eye,  the  ear,  and 
the  tongue  to  take  pams:  that  is  the  secret  of  the 
whole  matter^ 

The  following  exercises  are  exceedingly  simple. 
Their  purpose  is  tc  call  attention  to  a  few  of  the  many 
words  commonly  mispronounced.  To  run  through 
them  once  or  twic3  will  accomplish  little;  they  call 
for  repeated  practice,  day  after  day. 


EXERCISES 

I.  Pronounce  the  following,  making  sure  that  the  ac- 
cent falls  where  it  should.  If  in  doubt,  consult  a  good 
dictionary. 

Address,  recess,  discourse,  influence,  express,  illustrate, 
character,  finance,  mischievous,  deficit,  precedence,  prece- 
dent, mustache,  romance,  herculean,  exquisite,  alloy,  alias, 
combatant,  reputable,  infamous,  condolence,  caricature, 
comparable,  interesting,  incomparable,  disreputable,  formi- 
dable, gondola,  chastisement,  clandestine,  irremediable, 
hyperbole,  idea. 

II.  In  careless  speech  perhaps  becomes  praps,  usually 
contracts  into  usally.  All  the  words  in  the  following 
group  suffer  from  this  kind  of  abuse.  Pronounce  care- 
fully, giving  each  syllable  due  attention. 

General,  several,  persorml,  temperance,  regular,  reason- 
able, laboratory,  difference,  singidar,  perhaps,  calaihte, 
usually,  naturally,  governor,  original,  parenthesis,  inci- 
dentally, superintendent,  delivery,  enthusiasm,  miserable, 


PRONUNCIATION  13 

reverend,  bravery,  machinery,  battery,  restaurant,  sentinel, 
military,  curiosity,  cardinal,  artistically,  boisterous,  il- 
literate, miniature,  vulnerable,  sarsaparilla,  poem. 

III.  Ath  el  etics,  sawr,  drownded,  and  naow  are  com- 
mon mispronunciations  of  athletics,  saw,  drowned,  and 
now.     Occasionally  a  silent  letter  is  sounded,  as  in  ojten      .    / 
and  herb.     Be  careful  not  to  make  mistakes  of  this  sort 
when  pronouncing  the  following  words: 

Brethren,  draw,  business,  down,  often,  height,  umbrella, 
sword,  cow,  Wales,  spasm,  saw,  salmon,  found,  herb, 
house,  ought,  athletics,  soda,  straw,  intellect,  law,  mountain, 
how,  persevere,  caught,  column,  drowned,  drama,  com- 
plainant, spasm,  extra,  thought,  soften. 

IV.  Punkin  and  cunni^i  are  common  mispronuncia-    2r^cw'^4-ii 
tions  of  pumpkin  and  cunning.     Pay  especial  attention 

to  consonants  when  pronouncing  the  following  words: 

Fact,  government,  perfect,  speaking,  quarter,  orphan, 
connect,  including,  arctic,  particular,  adjacent,  pumpkin, 
partridge,  expect,  leaving,  except,  extract,  February,  in- 
ferring, anarchy,  instinct,  recognize,  tract,  anything, 
recognition,  attract,  cunning,  subtract,  reading,  object, 
doing,  accept.  Harvard. 

V.  Pronounce,  taking  pains  to  give  full  value  to  the 
vowel  in  each  final  syllable.  Do  not  turn  object  into 
objict,  nor  judgment  into  judgmunt. 

Providence,  statement,  sentiment,  professor,  benevolence, 
gentlemen,  object,  similar,  amusement,  admittance,  govern- 
ment, regular,  parliament,  difference,  reverend,  singular, 
independent,  rudiments,  audience,  prominent,  reverence, 
restaurant,  vehement,  countrymen,  irrelevant,  judgment, 
disconsolate,  argument,  jurymen,  extravagance,  battlement, 
accomplishment,  accident,  intemperance. 


14  WORDS  AND   SENTENCES 

YI.  Italian  should  not  be  pronounced  as  if  spelled 
Eyetalian,  nor  American  as  if  it  were  Amurican.  Pay 
particular  attention  to  all  the  vowels  in  this  group  of 
words: 

Foreigner,  nominate,  get,  educate,  rather,  visible,  Ameri- 
can, capability,  candidate,  animal,  complication.  Coli- 
seum, engine,  yet,  Italian,  solemn,  definition,  ceremony, 
genuine,  separate,  barbarism,  clemency,  representative. 

VII.  Give  the  vowel  p  its  full  sound.  Do  not  sub- 
stitute the  sound  of  some  other  letter.  Do  not  insert 
the  letter  r. 

Innocent,  eloquent,  society,  siualloio,  accommodate,  com- 
position, provide,  tomatoes,  mosquito,  diagonal,  professor, 
fellow,  oyster,  proposition,  mountain,  decoration,  apolo- 
gize, chocolate,  borrow,  apoplexy,  sorrow,  sonorous,  intro- 
duction, potatoes,  piano,  process,  cow. 

VIII.  Perhaps  no  vowel  is  more  commonly  mispro- 
nounced than  u.  Seldom  should  it  be  given  the  sound 
of  00  as  in  the  word  600^. 

Blue,  student,  truth,  tube,  Tuesday,  duke,  gratitude, 
suit,  stupid,  produce,  tutor,  tune,  dutiful,  attitude,  avenue, 
destitute,  stimulate,  rudiments,  picture,  educate,  genuine, 
institute,  speculate,  juice,  natural,  occupy,  durable,  argu- 
ment, altitude,  culinary,  figure,  cruel. 

IX.  The  vowel  a^  represents  a  number  of  different 
sounds.  Are  you  sure  that  you  pronounce  the  following 
words  correctly? 

Ask,    half,   gape,    catch,   canH,    parent,  haunt,   laugh, 
chaste,  launch,  extra,  calf,  path,  psalm,  patent,  calm,  be- 
cause, father,  vaunt,  alternate, 
-^      X.  Th,  ngth,  sph,  and  similar  combinations  are  diffi- 
cult for  some  tongues.     Master  the  following: 


PRONUNCIATION  15 

Length,  depths,  Thursday,  sphere,  strength,  thousand, 
drouth,  diphthong,  architecture,  naphtha,  twelfth,  chasm, 
drought,  eighth,  trough,  eleventh,  thought,  architect. 

XI.  Each  word  in  this  group  presents  some  difficulty. 
When  in  doubt,  do  not  guess;  consult  a  dictionary. 

Amateur,  juvenile,  victuals,  debris,  bestial,  viscount, 
fianc4,  docile,  deaf,  epitome,  cayenne,  detour,  suite,  leisure, 
odious,  courtesy,  irrelevant,  hundred,  decrepit,  column, 
again,  sesame,  sergeant,  pantomime,  forehead,  tedious, 
chimney,  coffee,  clapboard,  creek,  enmity,  immediate, 
representative,  apron,  spoon. 

XII.  The  following  are  selected  from  the  preceding 
groups.  Pronounce  them  slowly  and  with  distinct 
enunciation.  Go  through  the  list  again  and  again; 
master  each  word. 

Tuesday,  February,  Italian,  American,  pumpkin,  quar- 
ter, psalm,  governor,  solemn,  illustrate,  strength,  laboratory, 
character,  stupid,  Arctic,  government,  detour,  fellow, 
several,  often,  rather,  influence,  discourse,  forehead,  Wales 
laugh,  drowned,  swalloiu,  height,  length,  gentlemen,  ridic- 
ulous, sentiment,  willing,  deaf,  intellect,  sword,  superin- 
tendent, fiance,  recess,  engine,  sphere,  tract,  catch,  object, 
professor,  avenue,  saiv,  column,  partridge,  architect,  inter- 
esting, decorous,  debris,  chimney,  suite,  twelfth,  miserable, 
romance,  difference,  potatoes,  pantomime,  produce,  creek, 
hundred,  umbrella,  genuine,  subject,  temperance,  mis- 
chievous, address,  express,  athletics,  recognize,  patent, 
illustrate,  mustache,  gratitude,  student,  juvenile,  speaking, 
gape,  coffee. 

XIII.  Make  a  list  of  words  you  have  discovered, 
through  your  study  of  the  preceding  exercises,  that  you 
have  been  unconsciously  mispronouncing. 


16  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

XIV.  Make  a  list  of  words  you  hear  commonly  mis- 
pronounced by  your  associates. 

XV.  Write,  as  if  to  a  child,  a  fifteen-line  paragraph 
explaining  the  dictionary's  way  of  indicating  the  correct 
pronunciation  of  words.  This  is  a  difficult  task;  do  it 
well. 


III.— WORD-BUILDING  AND  SPELLING 

Horse  and  shoe,  when  combined,  form  the  com- 
pound horseshoe.  Add  the  suffix  ness  to  the  adjective 
good  and  we  have  the  noun  goodness.  Regain  is  but 
the  word  gain  plus  a  prefix.  In  returnable,  three  ele- 
ments are  discoverable,  a  simple  word,  a  prefix,  and  a 
suffix;  in  ungentlemanly  there  are  four  elements.  Even 
a  superficial  examination  of  the  dictionary  reveals  the 
fact  that  comparatively  few  words  are  simple;  that 
there  are  scores  of  prefixes,  scores  of  suffixes,  by 
means  of  which  our  language  multiplies. 

The  words  examined  in  the  paragraph  above  are 
readily  analyzed;  a  glance  shows  how  they  are  put 
together.  But  analysis  is  not  always  so  simple. 
Words  adopted  from  a  foreign  language  do  not,  as  a 
rule,  retain  their  original  form;  only  the  vital  part  of 
each — the  root  or  the  stem,  as  it  is  called — is  retained. 
Jacere,  for  example,  is  a  foreign  word  meaning  to 
throw.  Its  root  is  ject,  as  seen  in  interjection.  With- 
out some  familiarity  with  foreign  languages,  it  is  not 
always  easy  to  detect  word-roots.  Many  prefixes 
too  are  from  languages  other  than  our  own.     Some 

17 


18  WORDS  ANi)  SENTENCES 

are  so  commonly  employed  that  we  recognize  them 
readily  enough  and  know  what  they  mean;  yet  oc- 
casionally one  is  so  changed  in  the  process  of  joining 
it  smoothly  to  a  root  that  to  determine  where  the  pre- 
fix ends  and  the  root  begins  is  not  a  simple  matter. 

So  many  words  are  of  Latin  derivation — our  pon- 
derous dictionary  would  shrink  at  least  one-third  if 
they  were  all  dropped  from  it — that  some  educators 
believe  the  best  way  to  master  English  is  to  master 
Latin  first.  Whether  this  indirect  method  is  best  or 
not,  it  is  for  several  reasons  an  exceedingly  good  one. 
Those  who  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  adopt  it  should 
at  least  master  the  more  commonly  employed  Latin 
prefixes.  For  frequently  a  prefix  furnishes  a  hint  of 
what  the  word  it  introduces  means,  and  sometimes 
it  throws  the  door  wide  open,  revealing  at  once  the 
entire  secret.  Familiarity  with  the  Latin  prefixes 
also  helps  one  to  spell  correctly.  A  large  proportion 
of  words  commonly  misspelled  are  of  Latin  origin. 
The  trouble  lies  in  the  joint,  where  the  prefix  is  neatly 
attached  to  the  root.  If  one  knows  the  prefixes 
thoroughly  and  understands  word-joinery,  there  is 
little  danger  of  tripping;  a  moment's  thought  will 
tell  what  the  spelling  must  be. 

Ab  or  abs  signifies  from.  Norma  is  the  Latin  word 
for  rule;  hence  the  English  word  normal,  meaning 
according  to  rule  or  natural.  Abnormal,  then,  means 
away  from  the  rule  or  unnatural.  Abstract  is  made  up 
of  abs  and  the  root  of  a  Latin  word  meaning  to  draw; 
hence  to  abstract  is  to  draw  from. 


WORD-BUILDING   AND   SPELLING       19 


abduct 
absolute 


abhor 
abrupt 


abdicate 
absent 


abolition 
abstain 


Ante  signifies  before.  This  prefix  is  seen  in  ante- 
date and  antecedent.  Sometimes  it  changes  to  anti, 
as  in  anticipate.  There  is  a  Greek  prefix  anti  mean- 
ing against.  It  is  seen  in  antislavery  and  antidote. 
An  antidote  is  something  given  to  counteract  or  work 
against  a  poison  or  a  disease. 


anterior 
antediluvian 


anteroom 
antiquity 


anticipation 
antiquary 


antique 
antechamber 


Circum  signifies  about  or  around.     It  is  found  in 
but  few  words  and  is  easily  recognized. 


circumference 
circumvent 


circumnavigate 
circumlocution 


circumspect 
circumscribe 


De  signifies  from  or  down.  Caput  is  Latin  for 
head;  decapitate,  then,  means  behead  or  take  the  head 
from  the  body.  Deposit  is  made  up  of  de  meaning 
down  and  a  Latin  word  signifying  to  place  or  to  put. 

degrade  deform  debate  deliberate 

detest  deflect  debar  delirium 

deduce  decrease  demerit  declivity   • 

decamp  decay  defect  degrade 


Inter  signifies  between,  together,  or  among. 
easily  recognized  and  presents  no  difficulties. 


It  is 


interval 
interweave 


interhide 
international 


interregnum 
interpose 


20  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

intercollegiate  interfere  intermpt 

intermediate  interview  intersect 

interchange  interlace  intermission 

Non  signifies  not.    It  presents  no  difficulties. 

nonsense  non-combatant  nondescript 

nonconformity  nonentity  nonpareil 

noncommittal  non-resident 

Per  signifies  through  or  by. 

perforate  perpetual        percent  perusal 

perpetrate        permeate        persevere        perennial 
persecute         perspire  permission      perspective 

Post  signifies  behind  or  after. 

posterior      postscript      postgraduate     posthumous 
postpone      posterity       postlude  post-mortem 

Pre  signifies  before.  Judicium  is  a  Latin  word 
meaning  judgment.  A  prejudice,  then,  is  a  judg- 
ment formed  without  careful  examination.  Pre  is 
a  very  useful  prefix,  appearing  in  a  great  many 
words. 

prelude  preamble         prefix  prepaid 

preface  preposition      presage  premature 

precede  precaution       precipitate     preliminary 

predominate    prehistoric       premium       predecessor 
precept  premeditate    precocious     president 

Pro  signifies  forward,  before,  or  instead  of.  Videre 
is  the  infinitive  form  of  a  Latin  word  meaning  to  see. 


WORD-BUILDING   AND   SPELLING      21 

To  provide,  then,  is  to  look  ahead  or  make  ready  for 
what  is  to  come.  A  great  many  words  contain  this 
useful  prefix. 


proceed 

prologue 

prostrate 

promise 

procession 

program 

promote 

professor 

protect 

protrude 

promenade 

proclaim 

project 

product 

prosecute 

pronoun 

Re  signifies  back  or  again,  and  appears  in  a  multi- 
tude of  words. 


rebate 

recollect 

retail 

reiterate 

recess 

reconcile 

reduce 

remember 

remunerate 

repeal 

resign 

reply 

retract 

revenge 

retreat 

reflect 

Se  signifies 

apart.    It 

appears  in 

but  few  words. 

secede 

seclude 

secret 

secrete 

select 

separate 

seduce 

secretion 

Super  signifies  above.    It  presents  no  diflSculties. 

superb  superlative  superficial 

superintend  superstructure  superstition 

superfluous  supernumerary 

Trans  or  tran  signifies  across,  beyond,  or  through. 

transfer         trans- Atlantic  transient     transpose 
transplant     translate  transform    transact 

transparent  translucent       transom       transgression 


22  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

The  fourteen  prefixes  considered  thus  far  are  sim- 
pler than  the  six  to  be  examined  next,  in  that  they 
are  unchangeable.  Re  remains  re  and  se  remains  se, 
no  matter  to  what  root  they  may  be  joined.  This  is 
not  true  of  the  following : 

Ad  signifies  to.  It  is  recognized  at  once  in  adhere 
and  adjacent.  In  many  words,  however,  ad  changes 
to  ah,  af,  ag,  al,  an,  aj),  ar,  as,  or  at,  before  h,  f,  g,  I, 
n,  p,  r,  s,  and  t.  That  is,  for  the  sake  of  ease  in  pro- 
nunciation the  final  letter  of  the  prefix  changes  to 
the  first  letter  of  the  stem.  Words  containing  ad  in 
a  disguised  form  are  misspelled  frequently.  The 
troublesome  ones,  it  will  be  seen,  contain  the  double 
consonant.  It  is  almost  safe,  when  in  doubt,  to 
double  the  consonant  J 

abbreviate  application  admission  affluence 

^      accent  arrogant       affection  attempt 

?^      affix  assert  accompany  appearance 

^y         alliteration  attend  attribute  apparatus 

annihilate  adapt  arrive  array 

Con  signifies  with  or  together.  Other  forms  of  this 
suffix  are  com,  col,  cor,  and  co.  Col  is  found  before 
stems  beginning  with  I,  cor  before  stems  beginning 
with  r,  com  before  m,  con  before  n.  Com  and  col  ap- 
pear before  other  letters  too,  but  not  in  words  one  is 
inclined  to  misspell;  so  when  in  doubt,  it  is  safe  to 
double  the  consonant.  Carefully  note  the  spelling 
of  the  following.  Observe,  too,  how  strong  the  idea 
of  with  or  together  is  in  most  of  the  words. 


^K 


WORD-BUILDING  AND  SPELLING      23 


convene 

connect 

combine 

commerce 

conference 

concrete 

compete 

corrupt 

conspire 

concord 

compare 

correspond 

continent 

complex 

command 

collide 

co-education 

cohere 

conspire 

collection 

Dis  usually  signifies  apart,  though  sometimes  it 
has  the  force  of  a  negative.  Dif  and  di,  other  forms 
of  dis,  are  found  in  a  few  words.  There  is  a  tempta- 
tion to  substitute  diss  for  dis  in  disappear  and  all 
other  words  in  which  the  root  begins  with  a.  The 
opposite  tendency  is  seen  when  the  root  begins 
with  s,  as  in  dissatisfy.  Most  words  introduced 
by  dis  are  familiar;  a  moment's  thought  is  all 
that  is  necessary  to  determine  the  root,  and 
this  once  determined,  the  correct  spelling  becomes 
obvious. 


disability 

dissect 

dissolve 

discomfort 

disadvantage 

dissemble 

dissuade 

digress 

disapprove 

dissent 

discharge 

dilute 

disappoint 

dissimilar 

disengage 

difficulty 

disallow 

dissipate 

disjoin 

diffident 

Ex  signifies  out,  off,  or  beyond.  E  and  ef  are  other 
forms.  Words  introduced  by  ex  present  few  diffi- 
culties; there  is  no  temptation  to  double  the  final 
letter.  E  and  ef  are  sometimes  troublesome  because 
the  Latin  stems  they  introduce  are  unfamiliar;  or 
because  we  forget  that  ex  changes  to  ef  before  a  stem 


24 


WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 


beginning  with  /.     Note  with  care  the  first  eleven 
words  below : 


efface 

emigrant 

elapse 

explain 

effect 

emissary 

excavate 

explode 

effeminate 

enervate 

excellent 

export 

effervescent 

eloquent 

excursion 

express 

effort 

elocution 

exliaust 

extort 

In  signifies  in,  into,  or  not,  without.  It  is  exceed- 
ingly common,  and  exceedingly  troublesome  to  poor 
spellers,  who  forget,  or  do  not  know,  that  in  changes 
to  il,  im,  ir,  before  /,  m,  r.  Study  the  following  words 
faithfully,  first  noting  the  form  of  the  prefix,  then  de- 
termining the  significance  of  the  prefix. 


illegible 

immaterial 

irrational 

uTfOse 

illiterate 

inamediate 

irreducible 

innovation 

illiberal 

immense 

irregular 

inoculate 

illogical 

immigrant 

irreligious 

inquisitive 

illumine 

immoral 

irresolute 

inhale 

illustrate 

immunity 

irreverence 

inherit 

Sub  signifies  under.  It  changes  to  sue,  suf,  svg 
sum,  sup,  sur,  before  c,  /,  g,  m,  p,  and  r.  Let  the 
poor  speller  remember  this  double  consonant  arrange- 
ment; it  will  save  him  many  slips. 


success 
suffix 
suggest 
suffer 


surreptitious  subcontract  suppress 

summar}^        subscribe  suppose 

support  subdivide  suburb 

subconscious  sul) jugate  suffice 


WORD-BUILDING  AND   SPELLING      25 

In  the  following  table  the  prefixes  are,  for  con- 
venient reference,  arranged  alphabetically. 


Ab  (abs) 

signifies  from. 

Ad  (ab,  af,  ag,  al,  an, 

ap,  ar,  as,  at) 

(C 

to. 

Ante 

u 

before. 

Circum 

u 

about,  around. 

Con  (co,  col,  com,  cor) 

u 

with  or  together. 

De 

cc 

from  or  down. 

Dis  (di,  dif) 

u 

apart  or  not. 

Ex 

(( 

out,  off,  or  beyond. 

In  (11,  ini,  ir) 

11 

in,  into,  or  not,  with- 
out. 

Inter 

li 

between,  together,   or 
among. 

Non 

(( 

not. 

Per 

(C 

through  or  by. 

Post 

cc 

behind  or  after. 

Pre 

cc 

before. 

Pro 

cc 

forward,  before,  or  in- 
stead of. 

Re 

cc 

back  or  again. 

Se 

cc 

apart. 

Sub  (sue,  suf,  sug,  sum. 

sup,  sur) 

CI 

under. 

Super 

cc 

above. 

Trans  (tran) 

iC 

across,    beyond,    or 
through. 

26  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

Suffixes,  more  numerous  than  prefixes,  and  fully 

as  useful,  appear  in  so  many  of  our  conmionest  words 

that  their  significance  is  learned  almost  unconsciously. 

'  It  will  not  do  to  pass  them  b}^  however,  without 

noting  certain  rules  w^hich  tell  how  suffixes  are  joined 

,  to  stems.     These  rules  should  be  learned. 

Final  silent  e  is  kept  before  an  added  syllable  be- 
ginning with  a  consonant,  and  dropped  before  a  suflix 
beginning  with  a  vowel ;  but  words  ending  in  ce  or 
ge  retain  the  e  before  a  and  o.  Words  ending  in  ie 
drop  the  e  and  change  the  /  to  j^  before  ing. 

Love  +  ly  makes  lovely,  love  +  able  makes  lovable. 
Change  +  able  makes  cliangeahle  and  service  +  able 
makes  serviceable;  otherwise  there  would  be  a 
temptation  to  give  g  and  c  the  hard  sound  as  in  rang 
and  cuj).  Tie_^\-ing  makes  tying.  The  e  is  dropped, 
since  it  is  final  silent  e,  and  i  changes  to  y  to  prevent 
the  doubling  of  i.  Singeing  and  dyeing  retain  the  e 
to  distinguish  them  from  singing  and  dying.  Truly, 
duly,  shoeing,  hoeing,  toeing,  awftd,  argument,  and 
judgment  are  other  exceptions  to  the  rule. 

hoping  advertisement  subduing  amazement 

excitement  infringement     advantageous  tracea])le 
salable         tying  engagement     blamable 

peaceable     tasty  coming  conceivable 

movable       spongy  dining  flying 

Words  ending  in  a  single  consonant  preceded  by  a 
single  vowel  double  the  consonant  before  an  added 
syllable  beginning  with  a  vowel,  if  the  word  formed 


WORD-BUILDING   AND   SPELLING      27 

is  to  be  accented  on  the  syllable  preceding  the  suffix ; 
otherwise  the  consonant  is  not  doubled. 

This  rule,  like  the  preceding  one,  is  to  prevent  mis- 
pronunciation. Hop  +  ing  makes  hopping.  If  the 
consonant  were  not  doubled,  we  should  have  no  way 
of  distinguishing  it  from  hoping,  a  very  different 
w^ord. 


goddess 

deference 

occurrence 

usually 

literally 

baggage 

redden 

permitting 

deferred 

slipped 

planned 

nutting 

preference 

beginning 

beginner 

gripping 

preferring 

stopped 

swimming 

compelling 

When  preceded  by  a  consonant,  final  y  is  generally 
changed  to  /  before  an  added  syllable  not  beginning 
with  /;  otherwise  it  remains  unchanged. 

Holy -{-day  makes  holiday,  and  plenty -rjul  makes 
plentiful]  but  joy -^  Jul  makes  joyful,  and  toy+ing 
makes  toying.  There  are  a  few  exceptions  to  the 
rule,  among  them  being  shy,  sly,  and  dry,  which  re- 
tain the  y  before  ness  and  ly;  but  these  we  are  not 
apt  to  misspell. 

pitiful  volleying        modifying       compliance 

denying  modifier  defiance  joyous 


EXERCISES 

I.  Without  referring  to  the  table,  explain  the  signifi- 
cance of  each  of  the  following:  ab,  ad,  ante,  circum,  con, 
de,  dis,  ex,  in,  inter. 


28  WORDS  AND   SENTENCES 

II.  Explain  the  significance  of  each  of  the  following: 
non,  per,  post,  pre,  pro,  re,  se,  suh,  super,  trans. 

III.  Without  referring  to  any  book,  write  down  all 
the  words  you  can  think  of  which  contain  the  prefix  ah 
in  any  of  its  forms.  Do  the  same  with  each  of  the 
twenty  prefixes.     (This  may  be  made  a  class  contest.) 

IV.  What  prefixes  appear  in  the  following  words? 
Give  the  original  form  of  each.  Apparel,  commence, 
illegible,  suppress,  attribute,  alliteration,  aggregate,  supply, 
immigrant,  communicate,  irreligious,  illiterate,  suffix. 

V.  In  which  of  the  following  words  has  the  prefix  the 
force  of  in  or  into,  and  in  which  has  it  the  force  of  7iot  or 
without!  Illogical,  illuminate,  imbibe,  impediment,  ir- 
regular, immigrant,  involuntary,  insomnia,  inspiration, 
inoculate,  insane,  inquisitive,  independent,  infamy,  in- 
debted, incendiary. 

VI.  Open  the  dictionary  at  random  and  note  how 
many  words  containing  Latin  prefixes  there  are  on  a 
single  page.  Do  the  same  with  a  column  from  the  edi- 
torial page  of  any  newspaper.  Do  the  same  with  a  page 
from  a  magazine. 

VII.  Ceive  and  cept  are  roots  from  a  Latin  w^ord  mean- 
ing to  take.  Form  as  many  words  as  you  can  by  adding 
prefixes  and  suflftxes. 

VIII.  Cede,  ceed,  and  cess  are  roots  meaning  to  go  or 
to  yield.     Form  from  these  roots  as  many  words  as  you 

can. 

IX.  In  the  same  manner  form  words  from  the  roots 
due  and  dxict,  which  are  from  a  Latin  word  meaning  to 

lead. 

X.  Feet  is  from  a  Latin  w^ord  meaning  to  do  or  to  make. 

Form  words  from  it. 


WORD-BUILDING   AND   SPELLING      29 


XL  Jed  is  from   ix  Latin  word   meaning   to  throw. 
Form  words  from  it. 

XII.  Junct  is  from  a  Latin  word  meaning  to  join. 
Form  words  from  it. 

XIII.  Mit  and  miss  are  roots  meaning  to  send.  Form 
words  from  them. 

XIV.  Pon  and  fosit  are  roots  meaning  to  place.  Form 
words  from  them. 

'.-^-XV.  Tract  means  to  draw.     Form  words  from  it. 

XVI.  State  the  rule  for  adding  syllables  to  words 
ending  in  silent  e. 

XVII.  State  the  rule  for  adding  syllables  to  words 
ending  in  a  single  consonant  preceded  by  a  single  vowel. 

XVIII.  State  the  rule  for  adding  syllables  to  words 
ending  in  y. 

XIX.  Give  the  rule  governing  each  of  the  words  in 
the  Ust  below. 

dying 
pitiful 
preference 
truly 

XX.  Study  with  great  care  the  spelling  of  the  follow- 
ing words,  paying  particular  attention  to  prefixes. 
With  what  letter  does  the  stem  of  each  word  begin? 


goddess 

subduing 

deference 

serviceable 

advantageous 

purity 

shammed 

lying 

hungriest 

hoeing 

shying 

judgment 

dissect 

effervescent 

emergency 

emigrant 

accuracy 

disobedience 

irregular 


opponent     appoint 
disappear     aggregate 
misspell       correspondent 


immense 


access 


disagree       describe 
adjacent      apparatus 
suppress      effeminate 


immediately 

affirm 

addict 

accidentally 

ascertain 

dissimilar 

interrupt 


30 


WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 


XXL  The  following  are  troublesome  because  of  their 
suffixes,  in  each  case  there  being  a  temptation  to  use  a 
wrong  ending.     Master  them. 

affirmative  visible  forcible  dictionary 

spherical  bachelor  connotative  audible 

contemptible  conservative  coincidence  identical 

experience  popular  comparatively  obedience 

burglar  infinite  spontaneous  purity 

imperative  penitentiary  independence  resistance 

participle  secretary  correspondent  conspirator 

XXII.  Words  containing  the  diphthongs  ei  and  ie  are 
troublesome  until  one  learns  that  when  the  diphthong 
has  the  sound  of  long  e,  /  comes  first  except  when 
the  diphthong  is  preceded  by  c.  Weird,  seize,  neither,, 
and  leisure  are  important  exceptions.  With  this  rule 
in  mind,  study  the  following  words: 

yield  niece  receive 

shrieve  perceive  fiend 

receipt  deceit  shriek 

relieve  besiege  achieve 


conceive 

pierce 

wield 


apiece 

XXIII.  The  following  are  commonly  misspelled  be- 
cause commonly  mispronounced.  Are  you  sure  that 
you  are  accustomed  to  pronounce  them  correctly? 


embroidery 

recognize 

ransacking 

artistically 

tournament 

sophomore 

athletics 

cemetery 

quarter 

temperament 

cartridge 

farthest 

intellect 

laboratory 

lightning 

literally 

strategy 

tragedy 

tremendous 

accidentally 

XXIV.  The  following,  frequently  misspelled,  are  very 
simple  when  analyzed.     Often   a  long  word  is  but    a 


WORD-BUILDING   AND   SPELLING      31 


short,  famihar  word  to  which  prefix   and  suffix  have 

been  added.  A  moment's   thought  should  clear  away 
all  difficulty. 

recollect  preparation     imagination    incidentally 

agreeableness     recommend     undoubtedly   handsome 
narrative  criticism  ridgepole  condescend 

sensibility  miraculous      graphically      analysis 

XXV.  Here  are  groups  of  words  arranged  in  pairs. 
Put  each  pair  into  a  sentence  or  two  so  constructed  as 
to  show  without  doubt  that  you  know  what  each  word 
means. 


admission 
admittance 

affect 
effect 

allusion 
illusion 

ascent 
assent 

altar 
alter 

bare 
bear 

berth 
birth 

brake 
break 

breath 
breathe 

bridal 
bridle 

calendar 
calender 

canon 
cannon 

canvas 
canvass 

capital 
capitol 

ceiling 
seaUng 

cereal 
serial 

cession 
session 

chandelier 
chanticleer 

cite 
site 

clothes 
cloths 

coarser 

courser 

colonel 
kernel 

complement 
compUment 

conservator}^ 
observatory 

council 
counsel 

creak 
creek 

currant 
current 

deceased 
diseased 

desert 
dessert 

dual 
duel 

dyeing 
dying 

eligible 
legible 

32 


WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 


emerge 

emigrant 

fain 

faint 

immerge 

immigrant 

feign 

feint 

feat 

formally 

fort 

forth 

fete 

formerly 

forte 

fourth 

gait 

gilt 

grease 

hail 

gate 

guilt 

Greece 

hale 

heal 

hew 

humerus 

lead 

heel 

hue 

humorous 

led 

leaf 

lightening 

lose 

mantel 

lief 

lightning 

loose 

mantle 

meat 

medal 

miner 

partition 

mete 

meddle 

minor 

petition 

peace 

peal 

pedal 

persecute 

piece 

peel 

peddle 

prosecute 

pillar 

prescribe 

principal 

prodigy 

pillow 

prqscribe 

principle 

progeny 

prophecy 

real 

respectfully 

ring 

prophesy 

reel 

respectively 

wring 

role 

sewer 

shear 

sleight 

roll 

sower 

sheer 

slight 

soar 

stake 

stationary 

statue  ^ 

sore 

steak 

stationery 

statute 

stile 

tail 

team 

waist 

style 

tale 

teem 

waste 

WORD-BUILDING   AND   SPELLING      33 

XXVI.  Here  is  a  final  list  of  words,  some  of  which  we 
have  already  examined,  calling  for  careful  study.  Ana- 
lyze them  syllable  by  syllable.  Master  them  once  for 
all. 


pronunciation 

belligerent 

prejudice 

apparent 

divine 

among 

imitate 

arriving 

salary 

around 

muscle 

dissolve 

control 

brilliant 

arrange 

together 

speech 

proceed 

altogether 

equip 

mysterious 

beseech 

business 

whether 

vegetable 

surprise 

gas 

rummage 

galloped 

separate 

variegated 

melancholy 

professor 

similar 

privilege 

announce 

artillery 

divide 

appetite 

rhythm 

catarrh 

color 

sleeve 

malady 

difficult 

across 

caterpillar 

excel 

sovereign 

embarrass 

restaurant 

essential 

acquisition 

pamphlet 

precede 

villain 

accord 

expel 

terrestrial 

allow 

hospital 

undoubtedly 

agreeable 

grammar 

writer 

acquaintance 

luscious 

twelfth 

burglary 

callous 

syllable 

until 

exaggerate 

abolish 

parliament 

drowned 

nymph 

college 

soliloquy 

accommodate 

consonant 

34 


WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 


persevere 

committee 

possess 

academy 

sympathy 

finally 

career 

repetition 

artificial 

reverend 

warrior 

annual 

agree 

annex 

messenger 

paradise 

opportunity 

career 

odor 

drudgery 

resurrect 

duchess 

amateur 

achieve 

noticeable 

assassin 

graphically 

pursue 

literary 

barbarous 

commencement 

milHonaire 

shepherd 

negotiate 

remedy 

accustomed 

marriage 

bereave 

sergeant 

accordingly 

collapse 

fascinate 

milliner 

feminine 

discourtesy 

gasoline 

cylinder 

disapprove 

image 

physical 

hypocrisy 

Italy 

discipline 

trespass 

incandescent 

genius 

appeal 

fiery 

implement 

haggard 

describe 

crystal 

enemy 

necessity 

kerosene 

complexion 

crescent 

different 

dissipate 

approach 

coincide 

unanimous 

phase 

etiquette 

all  right 

PART    II 

A  BRIEF  REVIEW  OF   ENGLISH 
GRAMMAR 

Words  are  but  feeble  things  except  when  properly 
arranged  in  groups  and  set  to  work.  ,  They  resemble 
in  this  respect  the  parts  of  a  machine,  a  typewriter 
for  instance,  which  must  be  assembled  with  care, 
each  part  properly  fitted  in  its  place,  before  the 
machine  becomes  serviceable.  The  dictionary,  which 
we  may  call  first  of  the  great  law-books  of  lan- 
guage, considers  words  singly,  telling  what  each  one 
means,  how  it  should  be  spelled,  how  pronounced. 
Grammar,  correctly  speaking,  includes  all,  or  nearly 
all,  that  the  average  dictionary  contains.  As  the 
term  is  commonly  employed,  however,  the  special 
province  of  grammar  is  to  record  what  is  good  usage 
among  language-respecting  people  as  regards  words 
when  grouped  for  service — what  forms  they  take 
and  how  they  are  arranged^  It  may  well  be  called 
the  second  great  laT^^-book.  \  The  following  review 
is  much  too  brief  to  be  complete.  It  touches  but 
lightly   upon    many   things    and    passes   by  others 

35 


36  WORDS  AND   SENTENCES 

altogether,  the  purpose  being  merely  to  freshen  the 
memory  in  regard  to  such  matters  as  are  of  real 
importance  to  one  who  is  trying  to  learn  to  speak 
and  write  correctly. 

The  simplest  complete  word-group,  it  will  be  re- 
called, is  the  sentence,  with  its  two  vital  parts,  sub- 
ject and  predicate.  The  former  names  that  concern- 
hig  which  the  sentence  tells  something;  the  latter  is 
the  part  which  does  the  telling.  There  are  four  kmds 
of  sentences:  the  declarative,  used  in  making  an 
assertion;  the  interrogative,  used  in  asking  a  ques- 
tion; the  imperative,  used  in  entreating,  commandj^ 
ing,  and  in  giving  directions f^  the  exclamatory,  used 
in  expressing  deep  feeling. 

Declarative :  The  tide  has  turned. 
Interrogative:  Has  the  tide  turned? 
Imperative:  Seek  the  truth. 
Exclamatory:  How  gallantly  they  ride! 
Another  set  of  names  is  used  to  indicate  the  struc- 
ture of  sentences.     If  made  up  of  one  subject  and 
one  predicate,  a  sentence  is  called  simple.     If  made 
up  of  two  or  more  independent  clauses,  it  is  called 
compound.     A  sentence  made  up  of  one  independent 
'  clause  and  one  or  more  dependent  clauses  is  called 
complex.     Compound-complex  is  a  name  applied  to 
a^_seritimiifi-madfi_U£_of_Jndepe^  or 

more  of  which  are^&omplex.   \ By  "clause;  as  used  in 
Iheabove  definitions,  is  meant  a  group  of  words  con- 
taining a  subject  and  a  predicate  and  forming  part 
of  a  sentencc.j  It  differs  from  a^hrase^  which  is  a 


e%^ 


,v-^ 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      37 


group  of  related  words  that  does  not  contain  subject   ^'^ 
'^  and  predicate.     It  resembles  a  phrase  in  that  it  is 
often  used  as  if  it  were  a  single  word. 

Phrase :  in  the  morning 

Clause :  where  I  had  determined  to  spend  the  night 
/  Simple  sentence:  We  reached  the  village. 
'   Compound  sentence:    The  stars  fade  and  dawn 
appears. 

Complex  sentence :  In  the  evening  we  reached  the 
village  where  I  had  determined  to  spend  the  night. 

A  Compound-complex  sentence:  We_discQYacfid_tha± 

wejiadjorgotten  the-packet  and  Pierre  was  sent-io^ 
JL 

Thus  we  have  the  following  display : 

■  Declarative      making  an  assertion 
Interrogative  asking  a  question 
Purpose     -  Imperative      commanding,     directing, 
or  entreating      <'->'■'  '■'■' 
Exclamatory  expressing  deep  feeling 


Sentences 


.^-. 


Structure 


Simple  having  but  one  subject 

and  one  predicate 

Compound  made  up  of  two  or  more 
independent  clauses 

Complex  containing  one  or  more 

dependent  clauses 


There  are  eight  kinds  ofjwords:  nouns,  pronouns,       \ 
verbs,    adjectives,    adverbs,    prepositions,    conjunc- 
tions, and  interjections.     It  should  be  remembered,      ( 
however,  that  just  a^  upon  occasion  a  lawyer  may 
become  a  lecturer,  or  a  schoolboy  a  fisherman,  so  a 
given  word  may  be  now  one  ^^part  of  speech",  now 


38  WORDS  AND   SENTENCES 

another.  What  a  word  is  doing  determines  what  it 
should  be  called.  If  used  to  name  something,  it  is  a 
noun.  If  used  as  a  substitute  for  a  noun,  it  is  a  pro- 
n oun .  Nouns  an cl__Qronouns^ indeed  all  words  or 
word-groups  used  like  nouns,  are  called  substantives. 
A  verb^a  word  oFphrase  used  to  assert  something 
concerning  that  which  a  substantive  names  or  desig- 
nates. Adjectives  are  words  used  to  modify  the 
meaning  of  substantives,  and  adverbs  are  words  used 
to  modify  the  meaning  "of  verbs,  adjectives,  or  other 
adverbs.  Adjectives  and  adverbs,  and  all  words  or 
word-groups  used  like  adjectives  or  adverbs,  are 
called  modifiers.  Prepositions  connect  substantives 
with  other  words  and  show  how  they  are  related; 
conjunctions  join  words,  phrases,  or  clauses.  Prepo- 
sitions and  conjunctions,  and  other  parts  of  speech 
when  used  like  them,  are  called  connectives.  An_in-__ 
terjection  js  ^  w-nrd-^a_cry  or  an  exclamation-^used 
tQ_expressj££pJBeling.  These  definitions  are  not  in 
every  instance  complete;  but  they  serve  sufficiently 
well  to  point  out  in  a  general  way  the  service  per- 
formed by  each  part  of  speech . 

Noun :  The  day  is  done.     ^ 
>-^ Pronoun:  They  nm. 

Verb :  The  birds  have  floivn. 

Adjective:  A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath. 

Adverb :  The  sentinel  walked  softly. 
-^Preposition :  Two  of  the  ships  were  lost. 
^•Conjunction :  Come  and  trip  it  as  ye  go. 

Interjection:  Alas! 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR       39 


Thus  we  have  the  following  display : 


words  used  as  nam^s 

Nouns 

Pronouns 

words  used  as  substitutes  for  nouns 

Verbs 

words  used  in  making  assertions ,  Yyf'^'^ic^^  t^ZJi^ 

Adjectives 

words  used  to  modify  substantives 

Adverbs 

words  used  to  modify  verbs,  adjec- 
tives, adverbs 

irts  of 

Prepositions 

words  used  to  connect  substantives 

Speech 

with  other  words  and  show  how 
they  are  related 

Conjunctions 

words  used  to  connect  words,  phrases, 
clauses 

Interjections 

cries  and  exclamations  used  to  ex- 
press deep  feeling 

Studyins;  this  table  for  a  moment,  one  cannot  fail 
to  see  that  the  various  parts  of  speech  enjoy  but  little 
independence;  they  must  work  together  just  as  the 
individuals  of  a  community  must;  all  are  needed, 
none  is  self-sufhcient.  Nouns  are  helpless  without 
verbs,  and  verbs  helpless  without  nouns.  Pronouns, 
great  time-savers  that  enable  us  to  take  short  cuts, 
and  to  push  ahead  without  too  often  retracing  steps, 
are  meaningless  when  by  themselves.  Adjectives 
and  adverbs  must  have  something  to  cling  to,  other 
words  to  work  for;  and  connectives,  when  by  them- 
selves, are  like  mortar  without  bricks,  bridges  with- 
out banks  to  join,  or  signboards  where  there  are  no 
cross-ways.  Interjections,  of  all  the  parts  of  speech, 
enjoy  a  degree  of  lonely  independence;  yet  a  page  of 
interjections  and  nothing  else  would  be  unintelligible.j 
The  Ohl  Alas!  or  ^lercy!  means  nothing  until  some 


40  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

complete  sentence  explains  what  has  produced  the 
emotion  represented  by  the  exclamation.^ 

In  the  second  place  it  may  be  noted  that  though  no 
word  is  wholly  independent,  the  eight  parts  of  speech 
are  of  different  value  or  rank;  which  suggests  again 
a  parallel  between  words  and  individuals.  The  noun 
is  easily  the  most  important,  in  numbers  as  well  as 
in  service.  If  w^e  could  have  but  this  one  part  of 
speech  w^e  should  manage  somehow,  though  lamely, 
without  the  other  seven.  Next  comes  the  verb, 
without  which  there  could  be  no  complete  sentence. 
A  workaday  world  might  get  along  fairly  w^ell  with 
these  two  parts  of  speech  alone.  Adjectives  and 
adverbs  are  plainly  inferior  to  nouns  and  verbs,  and 
the  connectives  are  of  a  still  lower  order;  yet  vigor, 
precision,  and  beauty  of  expression  depend  so  largely 
on  a  command  of  these  minor  groups  of  words  that 
they  are  entitled  to  our  full  respect  and  merit  close 
study.  The  relative  hnportance  of  each  part  of 
speech  may  be  tested  in  an  interesting  way  by  taking 
a  paragraph  from  any  book  and  removing  from  it 
in  turn  the  nouns,  the  pronouns,  and  so  on. 

Finally  comes  the  thought  that  though  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  independence  among  words,  and  though 
some  parts  of  speech  may  be  considered  of  higher 
rank  than  others,  nevertheless  each  term  in  the  lan- 
guage enjoys  a  kind  of  supremacy,  each  is  a  specialist 
doing  some  one  thing  better  than  it  can  be  done  by 
any  other. 

In tcrj ej?tions  an d  prepositions  do  not  change  hi 


REVIEW   OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR      41 


form^nor  can  iht^y  he.  subdivided  iiitQ_xlasses  or 
varieties  according  to  the  service  the3^_j3ert'orm. 
OHTer  parts  o7~speech  may  be  subdivided,  and  with 
the  exception  of  the  conjunction  they  may  be  ''in- 
flected" more  or  less;  that  is,  they  may  be  bent  into 
this  or  that  shape  to  express  shades  of  meaning  and 
to  show  the  relationship  of  word  to  word,  much  as 
some  machines  may  be  ''adjusted"  to  perform 
different  kinds  of  work.  For  example,  hoys^js^axi 
inflected  form  of  hoy,  and  worked  an  inflected  form  oi 
worlc.  Centuries  ago,  our  language  was  much  more 
highly  inflected  than  it  is  to-day.  Many  forms  have 
dropped  out  of  use,  and  others  are  gradually  dis- 
appearing. Yet  the  shades  of  meaning  and  the  re- 
lationships they  once  expressed  still  remain,  and 
often  the  names  of  these  are  retained  even  though 
the  inflected  forms  are  gone.  \  We  will  now  take  up 
each  part  of  speech  separately,  considering  its  sub- 
divisions, its  inflections,  and  the  service  it  performs. 
Kinds  common,  proper 

number:  singular,  plural 
Forms         -I   gender:  masculine,  feminine,  neuter 

case:   nominative,  possessive,  objective 


Nouns 

(1)  subject  of  verb,  (2)  object  of  verb,  (3) 
indirect  object  of  verb,  (4)  object  of  prep- 
osition, (5)  denoting  possession,  (6)  ap- 
.  How  used  \  positive  to  a  substantive,  (7)  predicate 
nominative,  (8)  nominative  absolute,  (9) 
nominative  by  address,  (10)  adverbial 
objective 

A  common  noun  is  a  name  which  may  be  applied 
to  any  one  of  an  entire  class  of  things;  a  proper  noun 


42  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

designates  a  particular  one^^  distinguishing  it  from 
others  of  the  same  class.  Ijlliterate  people  some- 
times fail  to  begin  the  proper  noun  with  a  capital, 
and  frequently  begin  with  a  capital  a  word,  especially 
the  name  of  a  plant  or  an  animal,  with  which  they  are 
not  familiar.  Do^  is  a  common  noun;  so  too  is 
zc/i%osawni.s,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  has 
many  syllables  and  sounds  strange  to  the  ear. 

The  regular  way  of  forming  the  plural  is  by  adding 
s  or  es  to  the  singular,  observation  rather  than  hard 
and  fast  rules  teaching  which  ending  is  correct  in  a 
given  case.1  It  is  well  to  remember,  however,  that 
nouns  ending  in  y  preceded  by  a  consonant  change 
the  y  to  I  and  add  es;  that  a  few,  though  not  all, 
words  ending  in  fe  change  the  f  to  v  and  add  s;  and 
that  a  few,  though  not  all,  ending  in  o  preceded  by  a 
consonant  add  es.  Foreign  words  are  troublesome 
in  that  many  of  them  have  plural  endings  not  found 
in  our  language.  The  oddest  rule  is  that  which  bids 
us  indicate  the  plural  of  figures,  letters,  and  signs  by 
adding  's.  (See  exercise  VI  on  page  72.) 
pony  ponies  valley         valleys 

knife  knives  potato        potatoes 

vertebra        vertebrae  6  6's 

t  t's  +  +'s 

Few  nouns  have  separate  forms  to  indicate jliffer: 
^enceJn^^^derTiburt^^ 

liaye  gender,  so  we  may  speak  of  nouns  as  masculine^ 
femimh(?paRfHTCirteT.~~"lt^ 
case  as  itls~witii  gender.     One  form  now  suffices  for 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      43 

both  nominative  and  objective;    the  only  inflection 
is  that  which  denotes  what  is  loosely  called  posses- 
sion.   The  regular  way  of  forming  the  possessive  is 
by  adding  's  to  the  singular  and  to  all  plurals  not 
ending  in  s.    Plurals  ending  in  s  add  the  apostrophe 
only.    When  a  noun  of  more  than  one  syllable  ends 
in  axi  s  or  z  sound,  some  writers  prefer  to  indicate  the 
singular  possessive  by  adding  simply  the  apostrophe; 
others,  and  they  are  to  be  commended,  follow  the 
regular  rule.;    Ulysses's   voyages,  Xerxes' s   exercises, 
and  similar  phrases  have  an  unpleasant  sound.     Per- 
haps the  sanest  way  is  to  avoid  such  ugly  combina- 
tions by  writing,  the  voyages  of  Ulysses  and  the  exer- 
cises of  Xerxes.  \  |  If  two  or  more  nouns  joined  by  and  ^ 
show  joint  possession,  as  in  the  sentence  This  is  John 
and  Henry's  boat,  the  sign  of  possession  is  needed 
with  the   last  noun  only;    but  we  write  correctly 
This  is  either  John's  or  Henry's,  and  This  is  neither 
John's  nor  Henry's.  \  (See  exercise  VII  on  page  72.) 

man's        mens'  Dickens's  masterpiece 

lady's        ladies'  The  deeds  of  Themistocles 

Brown  and  Green's  harness  shop  (joint  possession) 

Goldsmith's  and  Burns's  poems  (separate  posses- 
sion) 

Is  this  Monday's  or  Tuesday's  Tribune? 

It  is  neither  Monday's  nor  Tuesday's. 

The  ways  in  which  nouns  are  used  will  be  better 
understood  later  on  when  the  other  parts  of  speech 
have  been  examined.  Since  this  is  a  review  of 
grammar,  the  following  examples  should  not  prove 


44 


WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 


wholly  unintelligible.     The  numbers  correspond  to 

those  found  in  the  table  on  page  41. 

1.  Fire  burns.  2.  Obey  the  law.  3.  They 
offered  Ccesar  a  crown.  4.  He  lives  in  Savannah. 
5.  Great  Expectations  is  the  title  of  one  of 
Dickens's  best  novels.  6.  We  followed  the  Ohio 
River,  a  branch  of  the  Mississippi.  7.  This  is  my 
native  land.  8.  The  day  being  clear,  we  had  an 
extended  view.  9.  In  thee,  0  Lord,  do  I  put 
my  trust.  10.  Good-bye,  proud  world,  I'm  going 
home,  

Personal:  I,  you,  thou,  he,  she,  it;  myself, 
yourself,  etc. 

Relative  or  Conjunctive:  who,  which,  what, 
that;   whoever,  whosoever,  etc. 

Demonstrative:  this,  that 

Interrogative:   who,  which,  what,  whether 

Indefinite  or  Adjective:  each,  either,  neither, 
some,  any,  many,  few,  all,  both,  aught, 
naught,  one,  some  one,  any  one,  every  one, 
no  one,  such  other,  each  other,  one  another 


Pronouns ■ 


Kinds 


Forms 


Person:  first,  second,  third 

Number:  singular,  plural 
I  Gender:  masculine,  feminine,  neuter 
[Case:  nominative,  possessive,  objective 


How  used:  (1)  To  take  the  place  of  the  noun,  serving 
in  all  save  the  last  of  the  ten 
ways  mentioned  in  connection  with 
nouns;  (2)  to  take  the  place  of  a 
noun  and  at  the  same  time  serve 
as  a  connective  (relative  pronouns 
only) 

Personal  pronouns,  so  called  because  some  always 
represent  the  ''first"  person  or  the  one  speaking, 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH  GRAMMAR      45 

others  the  '^second"  person  or  the  one  spoken  to, 
and  others  the  ''third"  person  or  the  person  or  thing 
spoken  of,  are  so  commonly  misused  that  it  seems 
l)est  to  give  their  inflections  in  full. 

Sing.  Plu.  Sing.  Plu. 

Nom.  I  we  you  you 

Pos.     my  or  mine      our  or  ours      you  or  yours      your  or  yours 

Obj.    me  us  you  you 


Nom.  thou  ye  he      she     it     they 

Pos.     thy  or  thine     your  or  yours  his      her     its   their  or  theirs 

(or  hers) 
Obj.     thee  you  him    her      it     them 

Singular 


Nom.  myself      thyself  or  yourself      himself  herself  itself 

Pos,        —              —                   _               _  _  _ 

Obj.    myself      thyself  or  yourself      himself  herself  itself 

Plural 


Nom.  ourselves  yourselves  themselves 

Pos.  —  —  — 

Obj.     ourselves  yourselves  themselves 

Notice  that  there  are  no  such  forms  as  ourn,  youer, 
yourn,  hisn,  hern,  theirn,  theirselves,  itsself,  and  that 
in  no  form  is  the  apostrophe  used.  ^'ouWe,  a  con- 
tracted form  of  you  are,  is  often  confused  with  yo^ir. 
'  The  relative  pronouns  are  so  calledbecausethey_ 
/'relate^ or  reterto^substantlYfi&l  Since  at  the  same 
time  they  introduce  clauses,  thus  serving  as  con- 
-^.nectives,  they  are  also  called  conjunctive  pronouns. 
Of  all  the  conjunctives,  who  alone  is  inflected.  | 


Sing. 

Plu. 

Nom. 

who 

who 

Pos. 

whose 

whose 

Obj. 

whom 

whom 

U^ 


4- 


46  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

Notice  that  there  is  no  such  form  as  whoes  or  ivhos. 
Who's  is  a  contracted  form  of  who  is. 

The  interrogatives,  so  called  because  used  in  ask- 
ing questions,  are  not  inflected,  with  the  exception 
of  who,  which  differs  in  no  respect  from  the  relative 
who. 

The  demcjnstratives  this  and  that,  with  th<^ir  pInrRi  — 
forms  these  and  those,  direct  attention  to  pmisoa^  or_ 
things,  pointing  them  out.     Be  careful  not  to  use 
the  personal  jpronoun  as  if  it^ere  a  demonstrative. 
Look  at  them  hoys  should  be  Look  at  those  hoys.    Re- 
member too  that  these  and  those  are  plural  forms, 
while  sort  and  kind  are  singular.     These  kind,  those  -/;' 
sort,  and  similar  vulgarisms  are  very  common .T 

The  hidefinites,  so  called  because  they  do  not 
definitely  represent  particular  persons  or  things,  are 
a  low  order  of  pronoun,  more  often  used  as  adjec- 
tives. Indeed,  many  pronouns  do  double  duty, 
serving  now  as  pronouns,  now  as  adjectives;  and  we 
have  seen  that  relative  pronouns  serve  as  conjunc- 
tions. ,  This  leads  to  confusion,  which  disappears 
only  when  we  apply  to  a  word  in  a  given  sentence  the 
name  which  best  describes  the  service  it  performs  in 
that  sentence. 

In  the  first  group  of  sentences  given  below,  the  pro- 
nouns are  used  like  nouns,  serving  as  subject,  object, 
etc.,  the  numbers  corresponding  to  those  in  the 
noun  table.  Notice  that  the  pronoun  is  not  used  as 
an  adverbial  objective,  iln  the  second  group,  the 
pronouns  take  the  place  6?  nouns  and  at  the  same 
time  serve  as  connective's,  i 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      47 


1.  This  is  the  forest  primeval.  2.  Take  it,  if 
you  wish.  3.  Please  give  him  my  cane.  4.  May 
we  go  with  him'f  5.  My  courage  weakens,  and 
so,  I  suspect,  does  yours.  6.  A  few  fortunate 
ones,  those  who  had  clear  records  in  deportment, 
were  permitted  to  go.  7.  This  is  he.  8.  This 
having  been  attended  to,  w^e  retired  for  the 
night.     9.  Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard. 

1.  Let  him  who  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall. 
2.  This  is  the  malt  that  lay  in  the  house  that  Jack 
built. 


articles:  a,  an,  the 

numerals:  one,  two,  first,  sec- 
ond, etc. 

pronominals :  my,  thy,  his,  her, 
its;  this,  that;  which,  what; 
each,  every,  either,  neither, 
some,  any,  many,  few,  all, 
both,  other 


r  Kinds  ■ 


Adjec- 
tives 


limiting 


descriptive 


proper 

Forms:     positive,  comparative,  superlative 

How  used:     To    modify    substantives     attributively, 
appositively,  and  predicatively 

Adjectives  present  few  difficulties,  except  as  they 
change  to  indicate  degrees  of  comparison.  In  some 
cases  degree  is  indicated  by  an  entire  change  of 
word,  as  in  good,  better,  best;  in  others  -erand  -est  are 
added  to  the  positive  form,  as  in  siveet,  sweeter,  sweet- 
est; and  in  still  others  the  comparative  and  the  super- 
lative are  indicated  by  placing  more  and  most  or  less 


48  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

and  least  before  the  adjective.     No  rule  covers  all 
cases;  what  is  right  must  be  learned  through  obser- 
vation.    Uneducated  people  sometimes  forget  that  a 
proper  adjective — that  is,  an  adjective  derived  from 
a  proper  noun,  as  Roman  derived  from  the  proper 
noun  Rome — should  begin  with  a  capital.     The  dis- 
tinction between  a  pronoun  and  a  pronominal  adjec- 
tive is  not  troublesome  if  we  remember  that  the 
adjective  always  modifies  a  substantive. 
Pronoun:  This  is  my  book- 
Adjective:  This  book  belongs  to  me. 
The  three  ways  in  which  an  adjective  may  be  used 
— perhaps  we  should  say  four  ways,  since  an  adjec- 
tive is  sometimes  used  as  a  noun — are  here  illustrated. 
1.  The  green  fields  invite  us.     2.  The  crowd, 
heedless,  rushed  into  danger.     3.  The  fields  are 
green.    4.  The  wicked  shall  perish. 

f  1 .  Transitive,  intransitive 
Kinds  I  2,  Strong  conjugation,  weak^conjugation 

Voice:  active,  passive 

Mood:    indicative,  subjunctive,  potential,  im- 
perative 


Verbs 


Forms   -I  Tense:  present,  past,  future,  perfect,  past  per- 
fect, future  perfect 
Person:  first,  second,  third 
Number:  singular,  plural 
.Verbals:  infinitives,  participles 

How  used:  (1)  To  form  the  essential  part  of  the  predi- 
cate; (2)  to  serve  as  a  substantive  (in- 
finitive); (3)  to  serve  as  an  adjective 
(participle) 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      49 

The  verb  is  a  difficult  part  of  speech  to  master. 
Very  few — perhaps  it  is  safe  to  say  not  more  than 
one  in  a  hundred — ever  do  master  it.  Grammarians 
cannot  agree  perfectly  on  all  points  relating  to  it,  and 
they  differ  widely  in  regard  to  the  names  which  should 
be  applied  to  its  various  forms  and  relations.  We 
shall  try,  without  going  too  deeply  into  matters,  to 
get  hold  of  such  essentials  as  are  needed  in  order  to 
talk  about  verbs  intelligibly  and  use  them  with  a 
reasonable  degree  of  correctness. 

A  verb  is  used  transitively  when  it  requires  an  ob- 
ject to  complete  its  meaning;  that  is,  when  it  requires 
a  substantive  to  ^'receive  its  action",  as  in  the  sen- 
tence Jack  huilt  a  house.  A  verb  is  used  intransi- 
tively when  it  does  not  require  an  object,  as  in  the 
sentence  The  sun  shines.  Some  verbs  are  always 
used  intransitively,  others  may  be  used  either  way. 
(See  exercise  XIII  on  page  78.) 

Verbs  are  said  to  be  of  the  strong  or  the  weak  con- 
jugation according  to  the  way  they  are  inflected. 
Weak  verbs  regularly  add  d  or  ed  to  the  root  to  form 
the  past  tense  and  the  past  participle.  Strong  verbs~|  — - 
regularly  change  the  vowel  of  the  root,  either  in  the 
past  tense  or  in  the  past  participle  or  in  both,  and 
sometimes  add  n  or  en  to  form  the  past  parti- 
ciple. 

Weak  conjugation :  work,  worked,  worked. 
Strong  conjugation :  speak,  spoke,  spoken. 

Many  verbs,  both  strong  and  weak,  are  inflected 
more  or  less  irregularly,  and  some  irregularities  are 


50  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

so  misleading  that  it  is  often  difficult  to  tell  what 
conjugation  a  verb  belongs  to  even  though  its  prin- 
cipal parts,  as  the  present,  past,  and  past  participle 
forms  are  called,  are  familiar  to  us.  It  is  a  comfort 
to  reflect  that  knowing  the  principal  parts  of  a  verb 
is  of  more  importance  than  being  able  to  tell  to  what 
conjugation  it  belongs.  (See  exercise  X  on  page  76.) 
Perhaps  the  best  way  to  get  at  the  many  difficulties 
presented  by  voice,  mood,  and  tense  will  be  to  display 
a  complete  verb.  Pronouns  will  be  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  the  various  forms  called  for  by  sub- 
jects in  the  first,  second,  and  third  person,  singular 
and  plural;  for  a  verb  ''agrees"  with  its  subject  in 
person  and  number.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
the  pronoun  is  not  a  part  of  the  verb. 


ACTIVE  VOICE 

INDICATIVE    MOOD 

Simple  Form 

Emphatic  Form 

Progressive  Form 

PRESENT 

I  love 

I  do  love 

I  am  loving 

you  love  or 

thou 

you  do  love  or  thou 

you  are  loving  or 

lovest  * 

dost  love 

thou  art  loving 

he  loves 

he  does  love  or  he 
doth  love 

he  is  loving 

we  love 

we  do  love 

we  are  loving 

you  love 

you  do  love 

you  are  loving 

they  love 

they  do  love 

they  are  loving 

*  The  older  forms  for  the  second  person  are  given  in  the 
present  and  past  tenses  only,  though  they  are  found  in  other 
tenses  as  well. 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      51 


I  loved 

you  loved  or  thou 

lovedst 
he  loved 
we  loved 
you  loved 
they  loved 

I  shall  love 
you  will  love 
he  will  love 
we  shall  love 
you  will  love 
they  will  love 

I  will  love 
you  shall  love 
he  shall  love 
we  will  love 
you  shall  love 
they  sliall  love 

I  have  loved 
you  have  loved 
he  has  loved 
we  have  loved 
you  have  loved 
they  have  loved 

I  had  loved 
you  had  loved 
he  had  loved 
we  had  loved 
you  had  loved 
they  had  loved 


PAST 

I  did  love 
you  did  love  or 

thou  didst  love 
he  did  love 
we  did  love 
you  did  love 
they  did  love 

SIMPLE    FUTURE 


I  was  loving 

you  were  loving  or 

thou  wast  loving 
he  was  loving 
we  were  loving 
you  were  loving 
they  were  loving 

I  shall  be  loving 
you  will  be  loving 
he  will  be  loving 
we  shall  be  loving 
you  will  be  loving 
they  will  be  loving 

VOLITIONAL   FUTURE 

I  will  be  loving 
you  shall  be  loving 
he  shall  be  loving 
we  will  be  loving 
you  shall  be  loving 
they  shall  be  loving 


PERFECT 


PAST    PERFECT 


I  have  been  loving 
you  have  been  loving 
he  has  been  loving 
we  have  been  loving 
you  have  been  loving 
they  have  been  loving 

I  had  been  loving 
you  had  been  loving 
he  had  been  loving 
we  had  been  loving 
you  had  been  loving 
they  had  been  loving 


52  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

FUTURE   PERFECT 

I  shall  have  loved  I  shall  have  been  loving 

you  will  have  loved  you  will  have  been  loving 

he  will  have  loved  he  will  have  been  loving 

we  shall  have  loved  we  shall  have  been  loving 

you  will  have  loved  you  will  have  been  loving 

they  will  have  loved  they  will  have  been  loving 

SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD 
Simple  Form  Emphatic  Form  Progressive  Form 

PRESENT 

(if)  I,  you,  he  love       (if)  I,  you,  he  do  love     (if)  I,  you,   he  be 

loving 
(if)  we,   you,   they     (if)  we,  you,  they  do     (if)  we,  you,  they  be 
love  love  loving 

PAST 

(if)  I,  you,  he  loved      (if)  I,  you,  he,  did  (if)  I,  you,  he  were 

love  loving 

(if)   we,   you,    they     (if)   we,   you,    they  (if)   we,   you,    they 

loved                             did  love  were  loving 

POTENTIAL  MOOD  ^  c,^^^i\.i\\^<^~' j 
Simple  Form                                              Progressive  Form  -^r^^JLY  ii>yt^ 
PRESENT 

I,  you,  he  may  *  love  I,  you,  he  may  be  loving 

we,  you,  they  may  love  we,  you,  they  may  be  loving 

PAST 

I,  you,  he  might  f  love  I,  you,  he  might  be  loving 

we,  you,  they  might  love  we,  you,  they  might  be  loving 

PERFECT 

I,  you,  he  may  *  have  loved   I,  you,  he  may  have  been  loving 
we,  you,  they  may  have  loved  we,  you,  they  may  have  been 

loving 

PAST   PERFECT 

I,  you,  he  might  f  have  loved      I,  you,  he  might  have  been  lov- 
ing 
we,  you,  they  might  have  loved  we,  you,  they  might  have  been 

loving 
*  Can  and  must  are  other  potential  auxiliaries, 
j-  Could,  would,  and  should  are  other  auxiliaries. 


REVIEW  OF   ENGLISH  GRAMMAR      53 


love 


to  love,  loving 


IMPERATIVE  MOOD 

PRESENT 

do  love 
INFINITIVES 

PRESENT 


PERFECT 


to  have  loved,  having  loved 


loving 
having  loved 

Simple  Form 

I  am  loved 
you  are  loved 
he  is  loved 
we  are  loved 
yon  are  loved 
they  are  loved 

I  was  loved 
you  were  loved 
he  was  loved 
we  were  loved 
you  were  loved 
they  were  loved 

I  shall  be  loved 
I  will  be  loved 


PARTICIPLES 

PRESENT 
PERFECT 


be  loving 

to  be  loving 

to  have  been  loving 

having  been  loving 


PASSIVE    VOICE 

INDICATIVE  MOOD 

Progressive  Form 
PRESENT 

I  am  being  loved 
you  are  being  loved 
he  is  being  loved 
we  are  being  loved 
you  are  being  loved 
they  are  being  loved 

PAST 

I  was  being  loved 
you  were  being  loved 
he  was  being  loved 
we  were  being  loved 
you  were  being  loved 
they  were  being  loved 

SIMPLE   FUTURE 
VOLITIONAL  FUTURE 


54  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

PERFECT 

I  have  been  loved 

PAST  PERFECT 

I  had  been  loved 

FUTURE   PERFECT 

I  shall  have  been  loved 

SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD 

PRESENT 

(if)  I  be  loved 

PAST 

(if)  I  were  loved  (iO  I  were  being  loved 

POTENTIAL  MOOD 
PRESENT 


PAST 


I  may  be  loved 
I  might  be  loved 

PERFECT 

I  may  have  been  loved 

PAST   PERFECT 

I  might  have  been  loved 

IMPERATIVE  MOOD 

PRESENT 

be  loved 

INFINITIVES 

PRESENT 

to  be  loved,  being  loved 

PERFECT 

to  have  been  loved,  having  been  loved 

PARTICIPLES 
PRESENT 

being  loved 

PAST 

loved 

PERFECT 

having  been  loved 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH  GRAMMAR      55 

As  we  study  this  display,  we  note  first  of  all  that 
though  the  verb  has  a  few  inflections— Zoves,  loved, 
loving^iis  conjugation  is  made  up  largely  of  phrases 
inwhich  am,  have,  do,  shall,  mill,  may,  etc.,  appear. 
These  words,  verbs  all  of  them,  are  called  auxiliaries, 
because  they  are  used  principally  in  combination 
with  other  verbs,  helping  to  express  various  shades 
of  meaning.  It  is  good  mental  exercise  to  dissect 
a  long  phrase  like  may  have  been  loving  and  try  to 
determine  what  each  word  does  toward  completing 
the  idea;  but  ordinarily  it  is  better  for  the  young 
student  to  think  of  the  phrase  as  if  it  were  all  a 
single  word.'^    (See  exercise  XII  on  page  77.) 

The  indicative  mood  is  used  in  plain,  straight- 
away assertion  and  question.  It  presents  no  diffi- 
culties except  in  two  tenses,  the  past  and  the  future, 
and  these  must  be  examined  with  great  care. 

Was  is  singular,  loere  is  plural.  It  is  therefore  in- 
correct to  write  They  was  all  present.  We  loas  pleased 
to  see  him;  for  the  verb  should  agree  with  its  subject 
in  number.  But  note  that  nowhere  is  loas  found  in 
the  second  person  singular.  It  is  you  were  loving  and 
not  you  was  loving,  you  were  being  loved  and  not  you 
was  being  loved.  It  is  odd  that  the  plural  form  luere 
should  be  used  with  the  singular  pronoun  you,  but  it 
is  so  used  by  those  who  speak  correctly.  Those  who 
say  you  vms  instead  of  you  were  belong,  as  a  rule,  to 
the  large,  unfortunate  class  who  use  aint  and  haint 
for  am  not  and  haven't.  Aint  and  haint  are  forms 
unknown  to  grammar. 


56  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

Shall  and  vnll  are  troublesome  because  each  per- 
forms a  double  service,  sometimes  indicating  plain 
futurity  and  sometimes  volition,  or  an  act  of  the  will. 
They  cease  to  give  trouble  when  the  meaning  of  the 
words  futurity  and  volition  is  clearly  understood  and 
a  few  simple  rules  have  been  mastered.  When  one 
says  /  shall  he  twenty  to-morrow,  or  Friday  will  he  the 
thirteenth,  he  does  not  mean  that  he  is  determined  to 
be  twenty  on  the  morrow,  or  that  he  promises  to 
make  Friday  the  thirteenth,  for  these  are  matters 
over  which  he  has  no  control;  he  simply  states  a 
future  certainty.  On  the  other  hand  /  will  give  you 
a  dollar  for  your  knife  is  a  promise;  and  He  shall  suffer 
for  this  is  a  threat  or  the  expression  of  a  determina- 
tion. Promises,  threats,  resolves,  and  the  like,  are 
acts  of  the  will;  they  come  under  the  general  term 
volition.  Three  rules  cover  nearly  all  troublesome 
cases : 

I.  To  express  a  simple  future,  use  shall  with  the 
first  person,  will  with  the  second  and  the  third. 

II.  To  express  volition,  use  will  with  the  first  per- 
son, shall  with  the  second  and  the  third. 

-^  III.  In  an  interrogative  sentence,  use  shall  with  the 
first  person  always.  With  the  second  person  and  the 
third  use  shall  when  shall  is  expected  in  the  answer 
and  will  when  will  is  expected  in  the  answer.  (See 
exercises  XVI  and  XVII  on  pages  79  and  80.) 

The  subjunctive  mood  is  used  most  commonly  in 
conditional  clauses  to  imply  that  the  contraiy  of  that 
which  is  stated  is  true,  as  in  the  sentence  //  to-day 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH  GRAMMAR      57 

were  to-morrov),  we  should  know  all  about  it.    It  is 
also  used  sometimes  to  express  a  wish,  as  in  the  sen- 
tence 0  that  I  were  home !    But  the  subjunctive  mood 
has  almost  disappeared  from  our  common  speech. 
[The  idea  of  extreme  doubt,  supposition,  condition 
contrary  to  fact,  etc.,  remains,  but  it  is  no  longer  ex- 
pressed by  a  separate  system  of  forms  such  as  we 
have  in  the  indicative  mood.    The  indicative  and] 
potential  forms,  helped  out  not  a  little  by  the  con-'i 
junctions  if,  though,  unless,  except,  lest,  and  whether,  [ 
now  do  most  of  the  work  formerly  done  by  the  sub- 
junctive.    Little  attention,  therefore,  need  be  paid 
to  this  mood,  except  in  a  single  case  where  it  still 
performs  an  important  service.    Notice  carefully  the 
indicative   and   subjunctive   past   tense   progressive  ^ 
forms  of  the  verb  love: 

Indicative 
I  was  loving  we  were  loving 

you  were  loving  you  were  loving 

he  was  loving  they  were  loving 

Stibjunctive 
if  I  were  loving  if  we  were  loving 

if  you  were  loving  if  you  were  loving 

if  he  were  loving  if  they  were  loving 

The  if  is  not  a  part  of  the  verb;  it  appears  in  con- 
nection with  the  subjunctive  merely  because  some 
such  conjunction  is  frequently,  though  not  always, 
used  with  that  mood.  It  may  be  used  with  the  in- 
dicative too;  but  if  I  was  loving  and  if  I  were  loving 
do  not  mean  the  same  thing.    The  former  expresses 


58  WORDS  AND   SENTENCPE 

a  simple  condition  in  past  time;  the  latter  has  nothing 
to  do  with  past  time,  but  sets  forth  a  state  of  affairs 
contrary  to  fact  or  merely  thought  of.  Note  the 
following  sentences: 

If  the  day  was  pleasant,  they  must  have  en- 
joyed the  drive. 

If  the  day  were  pleasant,  they  might  enjoy 
the  drive. 
In  the  first  sentence  the  speaker  tells  simply  what 
must  have  happened  under  a  given  condition.  The 
sentence  has  to  do  with  past  time.  It  does  not  sup- 
pose something  which  is  not  true;  it  is  a  pure  con-  "^ 
ditional  sentence.  In  the  second  there  is  an  element 
of  make-believe.  The  day,  we  know  at  once,  is  not 
pleasant,  but  the  speaker  imagines  what  might 
happen  were  the  day  different.  The  sentence  has 
nothing  to  do  with  past  time.  The  rule  covering 
the  use  of  the  two  moods  in  the  past  tense  is  as 
follows : 

Use  the  past  tense  of  the  indicative  to  express  simple"' 
condition  in  past  time.     Use  the  past  tense  of  the  sub- 
junctive to  express  the  idea  of  uncertainty,  extreme 
doubt,  or  condition  contrary  to  fact  in  present  time. 
(See  exercise  XV  on  page  79.) 

Potential  is  a  term,  old-fashioned  and  very  much 
too  narrow  but  still  convenient,  applied  by  some  to 
all  verb  phrases  containing  the  auxiliaries  may,  can, 
must,  might,  could,  would,  or  should,  auxiliaries  which 
help  the  verbs  they  accompany  to  express  a  variety 
of  ideas  such  as  obligation,  power,  possibility,  liberty. 


REVIEW    (3F    ENGLISH   GRAMMAR       59 

Many  granimarians  1  elieve  that  there  is  no  potential 
mood  and  that  the  so-cahed  potentials  are  indicatives 
and  subjunctives.  It  is  of  more  importance  that  we 
learn  to  use  may,  can,  and  the  rest  of  the  auxiliaries 
correctly  than  it  is  that  we  settle  this  disputed  point. 
May,  can,  would,  and  should  are  the  four  auxiliaries 
most  commonly  misused.  Can  denotes  ability  to  do. 
May  sometimes  denotes  a  wish,  as  in  the  sentence 
May  you  have  a  pleasant  journey;  and  sometimes 
possibility,  as  in  the  sentence  It  may  rain]  and  some- 
times permission,  as  in  the  sentence  You  may  go  now. 
The  point  to  be  remembered  is  this : 

Can  denotes  ability  to  do ;  may  denotes  permission. 
Hence  You  can  go  means  You  are  able  to  go;  You 
may  go  means  /  give  you  permission  to  go.  (See  ex- 
ercise XIX  on  page  81.)  ^ 
Should  is  sometimes  used  to  express  the  idea  of 
duty  or  obligation,  and  would  to  express  the  idea  of 
accustomed  action,  as  in  the  sentences  We  should  he 
just  to  our  enernies  and  We  would  hear  the  swallows 
chattering  in  the  big  chimney  whenever  the  mother  bird 
brought  food.  But  they  are  used  also  like  shall  and 
will  and  in  a  general  way  follow  the  same  rules, 
should  corresponding  to  shall,  and  would  to  will.  This 
is  seen  when  a  sentence  in  direct  discourse  is  turned 
into  indirect  discourse.  He  said,  "I  shall  be  home 
to-morrov)''  becomes  He  said  that  he  should  be  home 
to-morrow.  He  said,  "I  will  help  pay  for  the  boat'' 
becomes  He  said  he  would  help  pay  for  the  boat.  In  a 
conditional  clause,  shoidd  is  used  with  all  three  per- 


60  WORDS  AND   SENTENCES 

sons  to  express  futurity  and  loould  with  ail  tliree  per- 
sons to  express  volition;  but  in  the  principal  clause 
of  a  conditional  sentence,  should  and  loould  follow 
the  rules  for  shcdl  and  will. 

Simple  future:  If  he  should  call,  I  should  be 
glad  to  see  him. 

Volition:  If  he  should  need  money,  T   would 
send  him  a  draft. 
All  this  is  quite  puzzling;  but  we  may  simplify  mat- 
ters a  little  by  remembering  two  rules  which  cover 
nearly  all  troublesome  cases : 

I.  In  indirect  discourse  use  should  where  shall 
would  be  used  in  direct  discourse;  use  would  where 
will  would  be  used  in  direct  discourse. 

II.  In  the  principal  clause  of  a  conditional  sentence, 
use  should  with  the  first  person  and  would  with  the 
second  and  third  persons  to  express  simple  future. 
Use  would  with  the  first  person  and  should  with  the 
second  and  third  persons  to  express  voUtional  future. 
(See  exercise  XVIII  on  page  81.) 

Infinitives  are  verb  forms  that  are  used  like  nouns, 
and  participles  are  verb  forms  that  are  used  like  ad- 
jectives. They  retain  the  essential  idea  of  the  verb 
from  which  they  are  derived;  like  verbs  they  have 
voice  and  tense;  and  they  may  be  modified  as  verbs 
are  modified,  and  may  govern  the  objective  case. 
At  the  same  time  they  have  the  force  of  nouns  and 
adjectives. 
^  The  verb  always  forms  the  principal  part  of  tlie 
predicate,  stating  or  asking  something  concerning  the 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH  GRAMMAR      61 


substantive  which  serves  as  its  subject.  The  prin- 
cipal ways  in  which  infinitives  and  participles  are 
used  are  illustrated  below.  Note  that  while  the  in- 
finitive commonl}^  serves  as  a  substantive,  the  sub- 
stantive idea  is  lacking  in  the  last  three  examples  in 
the  first  group.  The  last  sentence  in  the  second  group 
shows  the  participle  in  what  is  called  the  absolute 
construction. 

1.  To  give  is  more  blessed  than  to  receive. 
2.  Ask  him  to  wait  for  us.  3.  I  purchased  this 
before  seeing  the  others.  4.  Winning  a  battle 
is  not  always  gaining  what  one  desires.  5.  It 
is  never  too  late  to  mend.  6.  We  went  to  the 
beach  to  gather  driftwood.  7.  It  was  a  victory 
to  he  "proud  of.  8.  I  am  glad  to  hear  such  good 
news. 

1.  There  is  a  familiar  adage  about  lohistling 
girls.  2.  I  left  him  standing  by  the  road.  3. 
The  dog,  harking  furiously,  soon  frightened  them 
.  away.  4.  Having  sung  till  we  could  sing  no  more, 
we  covered  up  the  embers  and  prepared  for 
bed.     5.  The  bell  having  rung,  we  formed  in  line. 

Simple 

r  hence,  how,  however,  now,  so, 
Conjunctive  \      then,  thence,  wlien,  whence, 

I      where,  whither,  why,  etc. 
Expletive:        there 
Responsives:   yes,  no 


r  Kinds  ■ 


Adverbs 


Forms:    positive,  comparative,  superlative 

How  used:  To  modify  verbs,  adjectives,   and  other 
adverbs;    to  serve  as  conjunctions 


62  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

Adverbs  are  easily  recognized,  especially  the  sim- 
ple ones  indicating  time,  place,  motion,  manner,  etc. 
A  few  are  compared  like  adjectives. 

much,  more,  most 

soon,  sooner,  soonest 

quickly,  more  quickly,  most  quickly 
Conjunctive  adverbs  are  so  called  because  they  in- 
troduce subordinate  clauses  much  as  relative  pro- 
nouns do,  at  the  same  time  serving  as  modifiers. 
Where  have  they  gone? 
They  have  gone  ivhere  we  cannot  follow. 
In  the  first  sentence,  where  is  plainly  an  adverb. 
In  the  second,  it  serves  not  only  as  an  adverb  but 
as  a  conjunction  joining  They  have  gone  and  ive  cannot 
jollow;  hence  it  is  a  conjunctive  adverb.  The  ex- 
pletive there,  seen  in  such  sentences  as  There  loas 
mounting  in  hot  haste,  is  so  called  because  it  ^' fills 
out".  Since  it  stands  first,  oftentimes,  where  we 
naturally  expect  to  find  the  subject,  it  is  frequently 
mistaken  for  the  subject  and  made  to  govern  the 
verb.  Thus  we  have  such  errors  as  There  loas  four 
of  us;  for  the  thoughtless  person  assumes  that  the 
expletive  must  be  singular  and  so  should  be  followed 
by  a  verb  in  the  singular  number.  Yes  and  no,  almost 
always  used  independently,  are  not,  strictly  speaking, 
adverbs  at  all,  since  they  modify  nothing. 

The  following  sentences  show  how  adverbs  are 
used : 

1.  Go  quietly.     2.  What  could  be  more  beau- 
tiful!   3.  She  sleeps  7nost  soundly  now.     4.  He 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      63 

will  come  lohen  we  are  ready.  5.  There  are 
many  reasons  why  we  should  go.  6.  Yes,  let  us 
be  patient. 


Prepositions 


Kinds:  All  of  the  same  kind 

Forms:  No  changes  in  form 

How  used :    To  connect  words  and  show  the  re- 
lation between  them 


'  Prepositions  form  but  a  small  group,  a  hundred  or 
so,  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  of  which  are  in  com- 
mon use.  All  are  of  the  same  kind,  do  the  same 
thing;  they  introduce  phrases,  connecting  sub- 
stantives with  other  words  and  showing  the  relation- 
ship between  them.  The  object  of  a  preposition  is  in 
the  objective  case.  When  a  prepositional  phrase 
modifies  a  substantive,  it  is  called  an  adjective  phrase; 
when  it  is  used  like  an  adverb,  it  is  called  an  ad- 
verbial phrase.     (See  exercise  III  on  page  68.) 

Adjective:  He  wore  a  badge  of  blue  ribbon. 

Adverbial:  They  will  come  in  the  morning. 


f  Kinds:  Coordinate,  subordinate 
Conjunctions    ■!  Forms:  No  changes  in  form 

I  How  used:  To  connect  words,  phrases,  clauses. 

Conjunctions  differ  from  prepositions  in  that  the 
former  are  usually  employed  to  connect  clauses,  while 
the  latter  are  always  employed  to  connect  single 
words.  When  a  conjunction  is  used  to  connect  sin- 
gle words,  the  words  are  in  the  same  construction; 
that  is,  they  are  used  alike,  are  of  the  same  rank. 


64  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

The  two  words  joined  by  a  preposition  are  always  of 
unequal  rank : 

The  house  and  the  barn  were  burned. 

The  hay  was  stored  in  the  barn. 
In  the  first  sentence  house  and  ham  are  in  the  same 
construction;   that  is,  both  are  subjects  of  the  same 
verb.     Was  stored  and  ham,  in  the  second  sentence, 
are   in   different   constructions;     ham  modifies   ivas 
stored  adverbially.     It  is  not  difficult,  therefore,  to  tell 
whether  a  given  connective  is  a  preposition  or  a  con- 
junction ;  but  it  is  sometimes  puzzling  to  tell  whether 
a  conjunction  is  coordinate  or   subordinate.      Coor- 
dinate   conjunctions    connect   words,    phrases,    and 
clauses  which  have  the  same  grammatical  relation; 
that  is,  are  in  the  same  construction.     Subordinate 
conjunctions  introduce  subordinate  clauses,  and  are 
found,  therefore,  in  complex  sentences  only.     There 
are  three  kinds  of  subordinate  or  dependent  clauses: 
adjective,    adverbial,    noun.     If    one    can    learn    to 
recognize  these  three  kinds,  he  should  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  distinguishing  between  the  two  kinds  of  con- 
junctions.    A  noun  clause  is  used  like  a  noun,  an 
adjective  clause  is  used  like  an  adjective,  and  an 
adverbial  clause  is  used  like  an  adverb.    The  first 
three  illustrations  given  below  contain  subordinate 
conjunctions  introducing  noun  clauses,  the  remain- 
ing ones  contain  subordinate  conjunctions  introduc- 
ing adjective  and  adverbial  clauses. 

1.  That    the  steamship    is    lost   is   beyond  all 
question.     2.  They  report  that  the  steamship  is 


REVIEW   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR      65 

lost.    3.  It  all  depends  on  where  the  steamship 
went  ashore./- 4:.  The  steamship  struck  ivhile  the 
passengers  were  at  dinner.     5.  //  it  had  not  been 
foggy,  the  accident  would  not  have  happened. 
6.  Do  unto  others  as  you  woidd  have  them  do 
unto  you.      7.  Return  to  the  place  whence  you 
came.      8.  There    was    a    time   ivhen  we  could 
have  escaped. 
All  connectives — prepositions,  relative  pronouns,  sim- , 
pie  conjunctions,   conjunctive  adverbs — are  exceed-  1 
ingly  important  in  that  they  bind  together  the  various 
parts  of  a  sentence.     (See  exercises  IV  and  XXI  on 
pages  69  and  82.) 

Selecting  items  here  and  there  from  the  preceding 
paragraphs,  combining  and  condensing  them,  we 
have  the  following  summaiy  concerning  how  words 
are  used  in  the  building  of  sentences : 

I.  Every  sentence  must  have  a  subject  and  a  predicate, 
the  former  naming  that  concerning  which  something  is 
asserted  or  some  question  asked,  the  latter  asserting  or  asking 
something  concerning  that  which  the  subject  names.  The 
vital  part  of  the  predicate  is  always  a  verb.  The  vital  part 
of  the  subject  is  always  a  noun  or  some  word  or  word-group 
that  is  used  like  a  noun. 

II.  The  meaning  of  a  verb  may  be  modified  (i)  by  a  noun 
or  pronoun  objective,  (2)  by  a  predicate  noun  or  adjective 
qualifying  the  subject  of  the  verb,  (3)  by  an  adverb,  an 
adverbial  phrase,  or  an  adverbial  clause.  The  meaning  of 
a  noun  may  be  changed  (i)  by  an  adjective,  (2)  by  a  noun  or 
a  pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  (3)  by  a  phrase  or  a  clause. 
An  adjective  may  be  modified  by  an  adverb,  an  adverb  by 
another  adverb. 


66  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

Several  of  the  rules  governing  person,  number, 
gender,  and  case  have  been  given  or  implied  in  earlier 
paragraphs.  Supplementing  these  we  have  the 
following : 

I.  The  subject  of  a  verb  is  in  the  nominative  case. 
II.  A  verb  agrees  with  its  subject  in  person  and  number. 

III.  A  noun  or  pronoun  the  object,  direct  or  indirect,  of  a 

verb  is  in  the  objective  case. 

IV.  A  predicate  noun  or  pronoun  agrees  in  case  with  the 

subject  it  qualifies. 
V .  A  word  in  apposition  with  another  word  agrees  with  it 

in  case. 
VI.  A  noun  or  pronoun  governed  by  a  preposition  is  in  the 

objective  case. 
VII.  A  pronoun  agrees  with  its  antecedent  in  person,  num- 
ber, and  gender. 
VIII.  A  noun  or  pronoun  with  an  appositive  adjective  or  its 
equivalent  is  sometimes  used  in  the  nominative  case 
absolutely. 


EXERCISES 

I.  Point  out  the  subject  of  each  sentence.  If  the  sub- 
ject is  made  up  of  more  than  one  word,  analyze  it,  show- 
ing how  the  bare  subject  is  expanded.  How  many  kinds 
of  modifiers  do  you  find? 

I,  Clouds  will  intervene.  2.  Honor  and  shame  from 
no  condition  rise.  3.  A  pleasing  countenance  is  a  silent 
recommendation.  4.  A  fool's  bolt  is  soon  shot.  5. 
The  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating.  6.  What 
cannot  be  cured  must  be  endured.  7.  He  who  arrives 
first  at  the  mill  should  first  have  his  grist.  8.  To  be 
poor  without  being  free  is  the  worst  state  into  which 
man  can  fall.  9.  In  the  lexicon  of  youth,  which  fate 
reserves  for  a  bright  manhood,  there  is  no  such  word 
as  fail.  10.  It  is  better  to  fall  from  the  window  than 
from  the  roof.  11.  Count  not  your  chickens  before  they 
are  hatched.  12.  Avarice,  mother  of  all  wickedness, 
always  thirsty  for  more,  opens  wide  her  jaws  for  gold. 

13.  The  Sunflower,  thinking  'twas  for  him  foul  shame 
To  nap  by  daylight,  strove  t'excuse  the  blame; 
It  was  not  sleep  that  made  him  nod,  he  said, 
But  too  great  weight  and  largeness  of  his  head. 

— Cowley. 

II.  Point  out  the  predicate  of  each  sentence.  If  the 
verb  is  modified,  analyze  the  predicate,  showing  how  it 

67 


68  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

is  expanded.     How  many  kinds  of  modifiers  do  you 
find? 

1.  Time  flies.  2.  Make  haste  slowly.  3.  Light  gains 
make  a  heavy  purse.  4.  A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  for- 
ever. 5.  At  night  all  cats  are  gray.  6.  Strike  while 
the  iron  is  hot.  7.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 
8.  Young  folks  tell  what  they  do,  old  ones  what  they 
have  done,  and  fools  what  they  intend  to  do.  9.  A 
soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath;  but  grievous  words 
stir  up  anger.  10.  A  bad  workman  always  quarrels 
with  his  tools.  11.  When  the  fox  is  asleep,  nothing 
falls  into  his  mouth.  12.  All  is  not  gold  that  glitters. 
13.  When  beechen  buds  begin  to  swell. 

And  woods  the  l)luebird's  warble  know. 
The  yellow  violet's  modest  bell 

Peeps  from  the  last  year's  leaves  below. 

— Bryant. 

III.  Point  out  the  phrases  and  tell  what  each  one 
modifies.  Analyze  each  phrase.  How  many  kinds  do 
you  find? 

1.  A  hare  is  not  caught  by  a  drum.  2.  Look  not  a 
gift-horse  in  the  mouth.  3.  It  is  necessary  to  wait  for 
the  lame  man.  4.  A  sparrow  in  the  hand  is  better  than 
a  goose  in  the  wing.  5.  Unto  the  pure  all  things  are 
pure.  6.  Burning  the  candle  at  both  ends  is  folly.  7. 
To  be  or  not  to  be — that  is  the  question.  8.  It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  9.  He  who  follows  two 
hares  is  sure  to  catch  neither.  10.  We  all  have  suffi- 
cif^nt  strength  to  bear  the  misfortunes  of  others.  11. 
Frightening  a  bird  is  not  the  way  to  catch  it.  12.  It  is 
great  folly  to  think  of  being  wise  alone.     13.  Please  ask 


EXERCISES  69 

him  to  remain  a  minute.     14.  By  following  the  trail  we 
easily  found  the  cabin.     15.  I  do  not  enjoy  benig  left 
alone      16    The  brook,  winding  in  and  out,  at  length 
reaches  the  river.     17.  All  hope  having  been  abandoned  . 
the  boat  was  allowed  to  drift.     18.  Having  been  warned 
of  their  danger,  the  girls  turned  back.     19.  The  snow, 
sweeping  across  the  open  fields,  piled  high  agamst  the 
cabin.     20.  Many  a  tale  is  lost  in  telhng. 
21.  And  then  there  w^as  a  little  isle 
Which  in  my  very  face  did  smile. 

The  only  one  in  view; 
A  small  green  isle,  it  seemed  no  more. 
Scarce  broader  than  my  dungeon  door. 
But  in  it  there  were  three  tall  trees. 
And  o'er  it  blew  the  mountain  breeze, 
And  by  it  there  were  waters  flowing. 
And  on  it  there  were  young  flowers  growing 
Of  gentle  breath  and  hue— Byron. 

IV  Point  out  and  analyze  each  clause.  Which  ones 
are  subordinate?  Which  of  the  subordinate  clauses  are 
substantive?  adjective?  adverbial? 

1  Adversity  makes  men  and  prosperity  makes  mon- 
sters 2  He  who  has  good  health  is  rich,  though  he 
may  not  know  it.  3.  What  is  well  done  is  twice  done 
4  Go  where  glory  waits.  5.  Ask  what  ye  will  and  it 
shall  be  granted.  6.  Honor  the  old,  instruct  the  young 
consult  the  wise,  and  bear  with  the  foolish.  7.  He  that 
gathereth  in  summer  is  a  wise  son;  but  he  that  sleepeth 
in  harvest  is  a  son  that  causeth  shame.  8.  If  the  sky 
falls,  we  shall  catch  larks.  9.  One  does  not  always 
know  who  may  be  trusted.     10.  Tell  me  what  you  read 


70  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

and  I  will  tell  you  what  you  are.  11.  All  philosophy, 
says  Epictetus,  lies  in  the  two  .words  sustain  and  ab- 
stain. 12.  We  must  expect  to  work  for  what  we  get. 
13.  Where  no  wood  is,  there  the  fire  goeth  out.  14. 
Much  may  be  made  of  a  Scotchman,  Johnson  once  re- 
marked, if  he  be  caught  young.  15.  Make  hay  while 
the  sun  shines.  16.  Keep  thy  shop  and  thy  shop  will 
keep  thee.  17.  Let  another  man  praise  thee,  and  not 
thine  own  mouth;   a  stranger,  and  not  thine  own  hps. 

18.  For  of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen. 

The  saddest  are  these:   '^It  might  have  been.'* 

— Whittier. 

19.  Breathes  there  the  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

"This  is  my  own — my  native  land!" — Scott. 

V.  Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  many 
words  are  used  now  as  one  part  of  speech,  now  as  an- 
other. Note  carefully  each  italicized  word  in  the  sen- 
tences below.  What  duty  does  it  perform?  What  part 
of  speech  is  it?  What  other  part  of  speech  may  it  be 
at  times? 

1.  Good,  quickly,  with,  or,  himself,  and  laughed  are 
common  words.  2.  Three  cheers  for  the  red,  white,  and 
hlue\  3.  The  French  were  victorious.  4.  The  captain 
made  a  home  run.  5.  Six  of  the  boys  consented.  6. 
Waiting  is  tiresome,  even  in  this  cool  waiting-room.  7. 
To  go  is  better  than  to  perish.  8.  The  tongue  of  the 
just  is  as  choice  silver.  9.  Be  just  to  your  enemies. 
10.  It  called,  just  then,  a  second  time.  11.  They  say 
he  lives  in  a  glass  house.  12.  The  imiidering  clouds  go 
by.     13.  Why  do  you  drive  so  fasti     14.  Oh,  young 


EXERCISES  71 

Lochinvar  is  come  out  of  the  West.  15.  Call  me  early, 
for  I  must  take  an  early  train.  16.  The  under  part  next 
received  attention.  17.  The  last  shall  be  first.  18.  He 
pitched  an  in  curve.  19.  He  must  be  there  by  7iow. 
20.  Wait  till  the  clouds  roll  by.  21.  Yonder  shepherd 
beckons.  22.  Look  yonder  I  23.  Try  hard  to  break 
this  hard  stone.  24.  Good-bye,  proud  world,  I'm  going 
home.  25.  Please  black  the  stove.  26.  The  public 
made  known  their  wishes.  27.  We  walked  about  the 
garden.  28.  The  wind  blew  so  strong  that  they  turned 
about  and  walked  the  other  uny.  29.  Who  called  urith- 
in't  30.  We  shall  be  there  loithin  an  hour.  31.  I  am 
about  through.  32.  Since  then,  we  have  been  careful  to 
lock  the  door.  33.  Where  shall  you  house  your  canoe, 
this  winter?  34.  The  culprit  was  brought  before  the 
judge.  35.  The  judge  had  never  seen  him  before.  36. 
He  escaped  before  he  had  served  his  sentence.  37.  Do 
not  remain  out  after  dark.  38.  The  after  effects  were 
unpleasant.  39.  We  purchased  a  to  let  sign.  40.  I 
will  come  after  I  have  finished  my  letter.  41.  Slow  up, 
please!  42.  That  is  too  bad.  43.  That  boy  is  an 
athlete.  44.  The  errand  that  we  were  to  do  is  now  un- 
necessary. 45.  I  think  that  we  may  go  now.  46.  Now 
what  part  of  speech  is  the  word  that'i  47.  My  ship 
rides  at  anchor.  48.  This  is  mine.  49.  This  boy  was 
called  Leonidas.  50.  Let  each  take  one.  51.  Each 
girl  may  take  two.  52.  Whose  name  was  mentioned 
firsfi  53.  The  one  whose  name  is  called  first  must  go. 
54.  Who  calls?  55.  He  goes  last  who  once  was  first. 
56.  Why  are  you  so  quiet?  57.  The  train  was  late,  so 
we  went  for  a  walk.  58.  When  shall  their  glory  fade! 
59.  When  the  cats  are  away,  the  mice  will  play.     60. 


72  WORDS  AND   SENTENCES 

Why  should  we  complain.  61.  He  asked  why  we  were 
so  merry.  62.  Thank  her  for  her  kindness.  63.  We 
have  waited  since  eleven.  64.  Since  we  must  remain, 
let  us  make  the  best  of  it.  65.  Where  are  the  reapers? 
66.  Go  where  glory  waits.  67.  The  stag  at  eve  had 
drunk  his  fill  68.  We  lost  the  way  and  had  to  foot  it 
home. 

VI.  Write  the  plural  forms  of  ally,  alley,  volley,  val- 
ley, cry,  lady,  folly,  fairy,  gypsy,  reply,  turkey,  pulley, 
galley,  soliloquy,  journey,  attorney,  chimney,  colloquy, 
caddy,  chief,  dwarf,  loaf,  scarf,  staff,  cloth,  wife,  self, 
himself,    myself,    gulf,    calf,    roof,    leaf,    proof,    motto, 
buffalo,   domino,   dynamo,   cargo,   veto,   hero,   portico, 
zero,  potato,  piano,  echo,  solo,  tomato,  alumna,  alumnus, 
larva,  formula,   focus,   nebula,   phenomenon,   stratum, 
bacterium,  medium,  erratum,  dictum,  oasis,  antithesis, 
thesis,    axis,    analysis,    crisis,    parenthesis,    hypothesis, 
corps,  tableau,  beau,  genus,  radius,  Norman,  Northman, 
Frenchman,    German,    merchantman,    daughter-in-law, 
bill-of-fare,  hanger-on,  handful,   James,  Heiuy,  Mary, 
Dr.  Jones,  Miss  Stone,  Mrs.  Grundy,  Mr.  Grundy,  Master 
Grundy,  6,  m,  +. 

VII.  Write  the  singular  possessive  forms  of  ally,  alley, 
fairy,  caddy,  oasis,  daughter-in-law,  Mr.  Grundy,  I,  you, 
he,  she,  it,  who,  Dickens,  Jones,  Wiggs,  Themistocles, 
the  King  of  England,  Dickens  and  Thackeray  (joint 
possession),  Edward  Clark,  Esq.,  Byron  and  Scott 
(individual  possession),   Addison  or  Steele  (as   in   the 

sentence  This   is or  ),    Keats,   Holmes, 

Clarke  the  hardware  merchant. 


EXERCISES  73 

Write  the  plural  possessive  form  of  ally,  alley,  lady, 
fairy,  caddy,  hero,  oasis,  corps,  beau,  calf,  daughter-in- 
law,  they,  Henry,  Miss  Stone,  Jones,  Wiggs,  Dickens, 
King  of  Sweden. 

Which  of  the  two  forms  enclosed  in  parenthesis  is 
correct?  1.  Think  of  (me,  my)  asking  such  a  question! 
2.  The  (train,  train's)  being  late  resulted  in  (them,  their) 
faihng  to  make  connections.  3.  There  is  some  talk  of 
(Mr.  Taylor's,  Mr.  Taylor)  being  made  president.  4. 
What  sense  is  there  in  a  (boy,  boy's)  losing  his  temper! 

5.  I  never  heard  of  (him,  his)  doing  anything  cowardly. 

VIII.  The  sentences  below  illustrate  common  errors 
in  the  use  of  pronouns  and  pronominal  adjectives. 
Correct  the  errors,  in  each  case  telling  why  the  pronoun 
as  used  is  incorrect. 

1.  The  contrast  between  he  and  Macbeth  is  marked. 
2.  Whom  do  they  think  I  am?  3.  Let's  see  who'll  get 
there  first,  you  or  me.  4.  If  I  were  him,  I'd  accept  the 
offer.     5.  Everyone  except  she  applauded  the  speaker. 

6.  Yourself  and  your  family  are  invited  to  attend  our 
opening  Friday  evening.  7.  Who  is  you're  friend?  8. 
We  have  been  waiting  this  two  hours.  9.  Who'se  to 
blame?  10.  They  must  look  out  for  theirselves.  11. 
Let  he  who  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  12.  I  am 
sure  it  was  them.  13.  He  shot  hisself  accidentally. 
14.  Who  are  you  going  to  invite?  15.  I  think  it's  wing 
is  broken.  16.  The  weather  will  not  permit  of  me  stay- 
ing out  late.  17.  Please  pass  me  some  of  them  grapes. 
18.  I  know  who  I  like  and  who  I  don't  like  better  than 
him.  19.  He  was  less  clumsy  than  myself.  20.  This 
isn't  ourn;    it  must  be  theirn.     21.  The  three  Clarke 


74  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

boys  and  myself  went  in  the  automobile.  22.  It  must 
have  been  us  you  saw.  23.  There  is  no  use  in  me  trying 
for  the  prize.  24.  They  called  upon  a  man  whom  they 
thought  would  surely  know  all  about  it.  25.  I  wonder 
who  he  means.  26.  It  lies  between  you  and  I.  27. 
Why  should  we  not  enjoy  what  is  our's?  28.  The  boat 
righted  it's  self  instantly.  29.  He  allowed  my  brother 
and  I  to  take  his  gun.  30.  I  think  you  are  as  tall  as 
her.     31.  Here  is  the  gentleman  who  you  wished  to  see. 

32.  Between  you  and  I,  the  game  was  not  won  fairly. 

33.  Do  you  like  these  kind  better?  34.  I  do  not  know 
who  to  turn  to.  35.  He  is  the  one  who  I  consider  the 
strongest  candidate.  36.  Us  girls  have  great  larks.  37. 
I  thought  you  said  their  were  good  boats.  Are  these 
them?  38.  Neither  John  nor  Arthur  brought  their 
lunch.  39.  No  one  should  allow  themselves  to  be  de- 
ceived. 40.  When  any  one  is  going  camping,  they 
should  take  warm  clothing. 

IX.  The  simplest  rule  in  sentence-building,  and  un- 
questionably the  rule  most  frequently  violated,  states 
that  a  verb  should  agree  with  its  subject  in  person  and 
number.  He  don't,  you  uns,  they  was,  and  /  says  are 
expressions  commonly  used  even  by  those  who  think 
that  they  speak  correctly.  Point  out  the  bare  subject 
of  each  of  the  following  sentences.  Point  out  the  bare 
predicate.  Point  out  the  error  in  agreement.  Try  to 
give  a  clear  explanation  of  how,  in  all  prol^ability,  the 
error  came  about.  Was  it  due  to  failure  to  see  that 
the  subject  was  a  collective  noun  or  the  plural  form 
of  a  foreign  term?  Did  the  writer  assume  that  tJiere, 
coming  immediately  before  the  verb,  was  a  substantive 


EXERCISES  75 

in  the  singular  number?  Did  he  mistake  for  the  subject 
some  noun  standing  nearer  the  verb  than  the  real  sub- 
ject? Did  he  forget  that  ivith  is  a  preposition,  not  a 
conjunction? 

1.  In  back  of  the  grapes  was  two  pineapples.  2. 
There  was  so  many  attending  the  game  that  we  could 
not  get  a  good  seat.  3.  If  each  of  the  boys  are  closely 
watched,  the  trick  will  soon  be  apparent.  4.  First  the 
girl's  name  is  given,  then  follows  her  age  and  birthplace. 
5.  This  house  don't  look  quite  as  old-fashioned  as  the 
other.  6.  Under  these  was  two  basket-balls  and  a  pair 
of  boxing-gloves.  7.  On  the  north  side  is  a  door  and 
two  windows.  8.  He  don't  know  any  better  than  to 
say  they  aint\  9.  There  was  but  two  girls  present.  10. 
The  phenomena  was  most  singular.  11.  The  papers 
tell  where  and  when  there  is  to  be  bargain  sales.  12. 
Two  of  us  remained  at  home,  so  there  was  but  two  to 
go  in  the  boat.  13.  The  father  with  his  three  sons  were 
saved.  14.  Every  one  of  the  articles  were  sold.  15. 
There's  no  two  ways  about  it!  16.  Tales  of  a  Wayside 
Inn  were  written  by  Longfellow.  17.  Fifteen  minutes 
were  soon  gone.  18.  No  one  Ijut  Edward  and  George 
were  absent.  19.  It  happened  when  you  was  away. 
20.  More  than  one  has  made  the  same  mistake.  21. 
Quickness  as  well  as  strength  are  needed.  22.  A  hun- 
dred feet  of  hose  were  rapidly  paid  out.  23.  To  the 
captain  and  the  manager  of  the  team  are  due  most  of 
the  credit.  24.  We  was  having  the  time  of  our  lives. 
25.  Honesty,  as  well  as  cleverness,  count.  26.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  roof  were  shingled  before  the  rain  fell.  27. 
My  favorite  study  are  mathematics.  28.  The  binding 
of  the  books  were  insecure.     29.  Home,   with   all  its 


76 


WORDS   AND  SENTENCES 


many  comforts,  were  soon  forgotten.  30.  I  says 
''walk";  he  says  ''ride".  31.  On  the  platform  even 
with  the  sill  is  three  cages.  32.  Thirty  thousand  dollars 
were  paid  for  the  mansion.  33.  Each  of  the  sticks  were 
given  a  coat  of  walnut  stain.  34.  Was  you  surprised  to 
see  your  mother?  35.  Which  of  the  two  boys  were 
John?  36.  It  will  clear  before  eleven;  you  see  if  it 
don't. 


X.  Learn  the  following  table  so  thoroughly  that  if  a 
principal  part  of  any  verb  be  given  you  can  without 
hesitation  supply  the  remaining  parts.  Words  starred 
are  of  the  new  or  weak  conjugation. 


arise 

arose 

arisen 

awake 

awoke 

awaked 

bear 

bore  or 

born  or 

beat 

beat 

beaten 

bare 

borne 

begin 

began 

begun 

bend  * 

bent 

bent 

bid 

bade  or 

bidden 

bite 

bit 

bitten 

bid 

break 

broke 

broken 

bring  * 

brought 

brought 

burst 

burst 

burst 

choose 

chose 

chosen 

cling 

clung 

clung 

come 

came 

come 

cost  * 

cost 

cost 

do 

did 

done 

draw 

drew 

drawn 

drive 

drove 

driven 

drink 

drank 

drunk 

drown  * 

drowned 

drowned 

eat 

ate  or  eat 

;  eaten 

fight 

fought 

fought 

flee* 

fled 

fled 

fling 

flung 

flung 

flow* 

flowed 

flowed 

fly 

flew 

flown 

forbid 

forbade 

forbidder 

I  forget 

forgot 

forgotten 

freeze 

froze 

frozen 

give 

gave 

given 

go 

went 

gone 

grow 

grew 

grown 

hear* 

heard 

heard 

hit* 

hit 

hit 

hurt* 

hurt 

hyrt 

knit  * 

knit 

knit 

lay* 

laid 

lain 

lead  * 

led 

led 

leap  * 

leapt 

leapt 

let* 

let 

let 

lie 

lay 

lain 

lie* 

lied 

lied 

EXERCISES 

7 

loose  * 

loosed 

loosed 

lose* 

lost 

lost 

put* 

put 

put 

rid* 

rid 

rid 

run 

ran 

run 

see 

saw 

seen 

set  * 

set 

set 

shrink  * 

shrank 

shrunk 

sing 

sang 

sung 

sit 

sat 

sat 

slay 

slew 

slain 

sling 

slung 

slung 

speak 

spoke 

spoken 

spring 

sprang 

sprung 

steal 

stole 

stolen 

string 

strung 

strung 

swear 

swore 

sworn 

swim 

swam 

swum 

tear 

tore 

torn 

think  * 

thought 

thought 

throw 

threw 

thrown 

wake 

waked  * 

waked  * 

wear 

wore 

worn 

or  woke 

wet* 

wet 

wet 

wring 

wrung 

wrung 

write 

wrote 

written 

77 


XI.  Notice  that  there  are  no  such  forms  as  brung, 
busted,  costed,  drowndedj  growed,  hitted,  hurted,  runned, 
swored,  sivimmed,  wored.  Write  sentences  in  which  the 
past  tense  and  past  participle  forms  of  the  following 
verbs  are  used:  bring,  burst,  cost,  drown,'  grow,  hit, 
hurt,  run,  wear,  swim,  swear. 


XII.  Give  the  active  and  passive  past  perfect  of 
beat;  the  active  past,  simple  and  progressive  forms,  of 
begin;  the  passive  past  progressive  of  bite;  all  the  in- 
finitives and  participles  of  bring;  the  active  past  of 
come,  eat,  and  fling;  the  passive  past  progressive  of  hear; 
the  active  past  progressive  of  lie  (to  recline);  the  active 
potential  past  of  see;  the  active  present  and  past  sub- 
junctive of  sing;  the  participles  of  swim;  the  active 
present  progressive  of  slay;  the  passive  present  pro- 
gressive of  slay;  the  active  simple  future  of  write.  Give 
a  synopsis  (all  first  person  forms  in  all  moods  and  tenses, 
all  imperative,  infinitive,  and  participial  forms)  of  love. 


78  WORDS   AND   SENTENCES 

Conjugate  work  in  the  active  progressive.     Conjugate  in 
full  the  verb  help. 

XIII.  Which  of  the  verbs  found  in  Exercise  X  are 
always  used  transitively?  intransitively?  Which  may 
be  used  either  way? 

XIV.  Lie  and  sit  are  intransitive  verbs;  lay  and  set 
are  transitive.  Supply  the  correct  forms  in  the  follow- 
ing sentences: 

1.  The  tree  has there  many  years.     2.  Let  the 

book where  it  is.     3.  I  think  I  have here 

long  enough.     4.  We  at  anchor  till  the  storm 

blew    over.     5.  In    which    direction    does    our    camp 

?    6.  The  grounds  were  beautifully  out. 

7.  When  the  culprits  were  caught,   they  the 

blame  on  others.     8.  Speckle  has an  egg  in  the 

box  that by  the  stable  door.     9.  I  think  the 

town  now to  the  east.     10.  Will  you  not 

down?     11.  He  said  that  he  would  — down  for  a 

while;    so  we his  blankets  in  the  shade.     12. 

His  only  fault,  they  said,  in  the  one  word  am- 
bition.    13.  Where    the    tree    falleth,    there    must    it 


1.  He  was  in  the room.     2.  We  had 

up  most  of  the  night.     3.  After  the  sun  had 

the  air  grew  chilly.     4.  Please  down 


minute.     5.  After  we  had there  a  long  time,  the 

door  opened.     6.  The  house,  he  said,  back  a 

little  from  the  street.     7.  Old  wives  a-sunning . 

8.  The  little  bird at  his  door  in  the  sun. 


EXERCISES  79 

XV.  Complete  the  following  sentences  by  inserting 
was  and  were  where  needed,  in  each  case  giving  a  reason 
for  your  choice.  Remember  that  the  indicative  is  used 
to  denote  simple  condition  in  past  time,  the  subjunctive 
were  to  denote  a  mere  supposition  or  to  present  a  state 
of  affairs  contrary  to  fact. 

1.  We  looked  to  see  if  it still  raining.     2.  If 

he  coming,  he  would  be  here  now.     3.  If  he 

tardy,    he    should   bring    an   excuse.     4.  If    I 

you,  I  should  start  at  once.     5.  Would  that  it 

true!     6.  If  he  asked,  he  would  come. 

7.  If  he asked,  I  knew  nothing  of  it.     8.  I  wish 

that  I  with  you.     9.  If  he strong,  w^e 

should  take  him  with  us.     10.  If  it true  then,  it 

must  be  true  now.     11.  He  would  seem  stern  ■ — 

it  not  for  a  twinkle  in  his  eye.     12.  If  it he,  I 

failed  to  recognize  him.     13.  Suppose  you asked 

to  go;   what  should  you  say?     14.  We  used  the  cottage 

as  freely  as  if  it our  own.     15.  Why,  man,  if  the 

river —  dry,  I  am  able  to  fill  it  with  my  tears;   if 

the  wind down,  I  could  drive  the  boat  with  my 

sighs. 

16.  Love  Virtue;  she  alone  is  free. 

She  can  teach  you  how  to  climb 

Higher  than  the  spiry  chime; 

Or,  if  Virtue  feeble  — — ^ — ," 

Heaven  itself  would  stoop  to  her. — Milton. 

XVI.  Supply  shall  or  will,  whichever  is  correct,  in 
each  of  the  following  sentences: 

1.  I hope  to  see  you  often.  2.  I  am  deter- 
mined that  he have  a  pleasant  time.     3.  If  you 


80  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

call  at  eight,  you find  me  at  home.     4. 

I  be  greatly  obliged  if  you  bring  the 

books  with  you.     5.  We  know  that  we have  to 

work  hard,  but  we  think  it do  us  no  harm.     6. 

John  is  determined  that  he  be  first.     7.  John 

tells  me  that  he be  able  to  join  the  party.*     8. 

He  writes  that  he be  sixteen  to-morrow.     9.  If 

you  go,  I want  to  go  too.     10.  I  think  we 

be  asked  to  remain.     11.  The  weather  forecaster  says 

that  we have  a  fair  day  to-morrow.     12.  I  think 

^Q  see  land  before  night.     13.  you  be 

able   to   accompany   us?     14.  When  we   reach 

Dallas?     15.  we  have  time  to  purchase  tickets? 

16.  What I  do  if  it  rains?     17.  you  be 

sorry  to  see  the  snow  come?     18.  How I  know 

where   to   go?     19.  we   be   permitted   to   take 

books  home?     20.  there  be  a  bonfire,  do  you 

think?    21.  they  know  which  road  to  take? 

XVII.  Show  very  clearly  that  the  meaning  of  each  of 
the  following  sentences  changes  according  as  shall  or 
mill  is  supplied. 

1.  you  attend  the  concert?    2.  We  

not  disappoint  you.     3.  There  be  no  laughter. 

4.  they  wait  for  us?    5.  He  read  the 

book.     6.  he  provide  lunch?    7.  I  be 

king.     8.  I  drown,  if  you  do  not  help  me.     9. 

He drown,  if  you  do  not  help  him.     10.  You 

drown,  if   no  one  helps  you.     11.  We  

*  Where  shall  would  be  used  in  direct  discourse,  use  shall  in 
indirect  discourse;  where  ivill  would  be  used,  use  will  in  the 
indirect. 


EXERCISES  81 

reach  New  York  before  eight.     12.  I  contribute 

ten  dollars.     13.  -^-^ —  you  try  for  honors?     14.  He 
reports  that  the  train wait  for  us. 

XVIII.  SupjDly  should  and  would  where    the    sense 
requires  in  the  following  sentences: 

1.  I like  to  help  you,  and  I if  I  could. 

2.  I  hoped  that  I  ^^-— -  not  be  asked.     3.  I  know  I 

enjoy  golf,  but  I  think  I prefer  tennis. 

4.  I  -^ — be  afraid  to  ride  such  a  spirited  horse.     5. 

If  you  will  permit  me,  I like  to  add  a  word.     6. 

If  you  rescued  the  crew,  you be  rewarded.     7. 

He  said  that  I go  if  there  was  room.     8.  He 

asked  if  I take  him  too.     9.  I be  sorry  to 

see  him  fail.     10.  I send  him  aid  if  I  thought  he 

would  accept  it.     11.  What we  do  with  a  white 

elephant  if  we  had  one?     12.  I  thought  I  fail. 

13.  If  you speak  to  him,  he give  you  a 

courteous  answer.     14.  Had  I  been  in  his  position,  I 

have  done  the  same.     15.  We  planned  that  he 

— go  by  train.     16.  If  you be  in  town,  we 

be  pleased  to  have  you  call.     17.  He  promised 

that  the  next  lesson  — be  better  prepared.     18. 

He  thought  that  he find  it.     19.  We  returned  it 

lest  he  -^ think  it  had  been  stolen.     20.  He  thought 

he  ^^-^^^ be  forced  to  tell  the  secret,  in  spite  of  all  he 

could  do.     21.  Had  we  delayed  a  moment  longer,  we 
have  lost  everything. 

XIX.  Show  clearly  that  each  sentence  changes  in 
meaning  according  as  may  or  can  is  supplied: 

1.  I  help  you?    2.  we  tell  all  that  we 


82  WORDS   AND  SENTENCES 

know?     3.  we   not  find  our  way  back  to  the 

boat?     4.  He  says  you go.     5.  we  have 

the  pleasure  of  your  company?     6.  What  more 

be  done?    7.  This not  be  done;  it  is  against  the 

rules. 

8.  Now  my  task  is  lightly  done, 
I  — fly  and  I run. 

XX.  Tell  very  clearly  why  each  of  the  following  sen- 
tences is  incorrect: 

1.  He  thinks  he  must  of  left  it  in  the  train.  2.  This 
was  the  first  time  I  was  ever  elected  to  office.  3.  I 
should  be  pleased  if  he  will  call  at  my  home.  4.  Do 
you  know  when  he  come  to  town?  5.  We  done  the  best 
we  could.  6.  They,  thinking  him  to  have  been  with 
the  others,  did  not  worry  about  his  absence.  7.  You 
had  ought  to  have  seen  us!  8.  It  was  enough  to  have 
discouraged  any  one.  9.  I  intended  to  have  written 
long  ago.  10.  If  I  permit  you  to  go,  I  should  have  to 
ask  you  to  return  before  nine.  11.  I  am  not  sure  where 
they  went,  but  I  think  they  may  have  went  shopping. 
12.  They  must  have  forgot  all  about  it.  13.  When  the 
storm  broke,  we  all  run  for  shelter.  14.  Probably  they 
would  have  drove  on  for  another  hour,  had  not  darkness 
overtaken  them.  15.  We  were  to  have  sailed  yesterday. 
16.  Don't  it  look  dark! 

XXI.  Point  out  the  connectives  and  tell  what  part 
of  speech  each  connective  is.  Which  ones  do  double 
duty,  serving  not  only  as  connectives  but  as  modifiers 
or  substantives?  Which  of  the  conjunctions  are  co- 
ordinate and  which  are  subordinate? 


EXERCISES  83 

1.  He  who  hesitates  is  lost.  2.  We  sailed  above  the 
clouds.  3.  Time  and  tide  wait  for  no  man.  4.  Neither 
this  nor  that  is  precisely  what  I  wish;  but  I  will  take  a 
little  of  each  unless  you  can  show  me  something  else. 
5.  Notwithstanding  the  weight  of  the  anchor,  the  yacht 
continued  to  drift.  6.  Let  him  who  standeth  take  heed 
lest  he  fall.  7.  Underneath  his  faults  were  virtues  little 
dreamed  of.  8.  Let  us  accept  whatever  comes  and  be 
of  good  cheer.  9.  Although  we  have  failed  twice,  a 
third  time  we  may  succeed.  10.  Before  breakfast,  take 
a  brisk  walk  through  the  fields.  IL  The  paths  of  glory 
lead  but  to  the  grave.  12.  I  go  where  the  winds  take 
me.  13.  Do  you  know  why  the  harebell  hangs  its  head? 
14.  We  do  not  know  whether  to  go  or  to  remain;  but 
since  it  matters  little  which  we  do,  we  will  decide  the 
matter  by  lot.  15.  If  thou  faint  in  the  day  of  adversity, 
thy  strength  is  small.  16.  Can  you  imagine  what  has 
happened  that  the  train  is  so  late?  17.  Though  he  fall, 
he  shall  not  be  utterly  cast  down.  18.  I  do  not  see  how 
we  could  have  missed  our  way.  19.  Between  the  hills 
lay  a  peaceful  valley  through  which  ran  a  sober  little 
stream.  20.  The  undertaking  is  hazardous;  still  all 
may  go  well  provided  we  are  careful.  21.  Notwith- 
standing all  that  has  been  said,  the  prisoner  is  blame- 
less. 22.  Throughout  the  night  came  cries  of  distress 
from  many  quarters.  23.  All  except  honor  is  lost. 
24.  Therefore,  since  the  whole  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  all 
its  parts,  the  angle  A  equals  the  angle  B.  25.  Wait 
till  you  have  heard  both  sides. 

XXII.  Point  out  the  errors  in  the  following  sentences: 
1.  We  had  neither  food  or  shelter.     2.  I  got  this  book 


84  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

off  of  James.  3.  The  reason  we  did  this  was  because 
we  knew  no  better.  4.  1  am  not  sure  but  what  we  had 
better  go  now.  5.  We  arrived  at  about  six  in  the 
evening.  6.  He  says  he  don't  want  no  dinner.  7.  We 
have  no  money  nor  no  means  of  procuring  it.  8.  He 
looks  like  he  was  lame.  9.  How  nicely  this  tastes! 
10.  He  has  an  itaUan  accent.  11.  Can  you  not  make 
it  a  Httle  rounder  at  the  top  and  squarer  at  the  base? 
And  make  this  edge  a  Uttle  straighter.  12.  It  will  not 
rain  before  noon,  I  don't  think,  13.  We  reached  shore 
easy  enough.  14.  He  returned  in  a  very  different  spirit 
than  he  once  had.  15.  Would  he  not  comply  to  your 
wishes?  16.  No  sooner  had  she  said  this  when  she  be- 
gan to  cry.  17.  Strike  out  boldly  like  me!  18.  This 
is  very  different  than  what  we  expected.  19.  It  was 
not  as  bad  as  we  expected.  20.  Like  as  not  we'll  meet 
them.  21.  This  is  very  pretty,  but  I  think  the  other 
more  preferable.  22.  Any  one  would  have  done  the  same 
had  he  been  frightened  like  John  was.  23.  As  quick  as 
the  twigs  kindle,  put  on  the  heavier  wood.  24.  Now 
pour  enough  water  in  the  pan  to  cover  the  dishes.  25. 
These  kind  are  hard  to  catch.  26.  A  dollar  doesn't 
last  long  when  divided  between  six  hungry  boys.  27. 
I  don't  know  as  I  can  say  much  more,  gentlemen.  28. 
I  shall  be  unable  to  go  without  I  get  my  lessons  first. 
29.  By  eight  we  were  near  starved.  30.  Scarcely  had 
we  fallen  asleep  than  the  fire-bell  began  to  ring. 

XXIII.  Analyzing  a  sentence  means  taking  it  to 
pieces  and  pointing  out  how  its  parts  are  related.  First 
we  should  tell  whether  the  sentence  is  simple,  com- 
pound,  or  complex.     If  it  is  compound,   the  clauses 


EXERCISES  85 

should  be  pointed  out  and  the  word  or  words  connecting 
them;  if  complex,  the  principal  clause  should  be  pointed 
out  first,  then  the  subordinate  members.  Next  we 
should  analyze  each  clause,  pointing  out  subject  and 
predicate  and  the  modifiers  of  each.  Analyze  the  sen- 
tences in  exercises  I,  II,  III,  IV,  and  XXI. 

XXIV.  Parsing  a  word  means  telUng  (1)  what  part 
of  speech  it  is,  (2)  what  inflected  form  it  represents,  (3) 
how  it  is  used,  (4)  what  rule  it  obeys.  The  things  to 
be  told  of  the  different  parts  of  speech  are  as 
follows: 
y  Noun:  Kind  (common  or  proper),  number,  gender, 
case,  how  used,  rule. 

Pronoun:  Kind  (personal,  relative,  demonstrative, 
interrogative,  or  indefinite),  antecedent  if  the  pronoun 
is  a  relative,  gender  if  it  is  a  personal  pronoun,  person  if 
it  is  a  personal  or  relative  pronoun,  number,  case,  how 
used,  rule. 

Adjective:  Kind  (article,  numeral,  pronominal;  com- 
mon or  proper),  degree  if  the  adjective  can  be  com- 
pared, how  used. 

Verb:  Kind  (transitive  or  intransitive),  conjugation 
(old  or  new),  principal  parts,  voice,  mode,  tense,  person, 
number,  rule. 

Adverb:  Kind  (simple,  conjunctive,  expletive,  re- 
sponsive), degree  if  the  adverb  can  be  compared,  how 
used. 

Preposition :  The  word  it  governs,  the  words  between 
which  it  shows  relation. 

Conjunction:  Kind  (coordinate  or  subordinate),  the 
words,  phrases  or  clauses  it  connects. 


86  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

Interjection :  Definition. 
—  Infinitive   or  Participle :   To  what   verb   it  belongs, 
voice,  tense,  how  used. 

Parse  each  word  found  in  exercises  I,  II,  III,  IV, 
and  XXL 

XXV.  Analyze  the  following  sentences  and  parse 
each  word: 

1.  Geography  explains  history.  2.  Death  lays  his 
icy  hands  on  kings.  3.  Unto  the  pure  all  things  are 
pure.  4.  And  when  his  armour-bearer  saw  that  Saul 
was  dead,  he  fell  likewise  on  the  sword  and  died.  5. 
Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy.  6.  A  man  with- 
out a  sense  of  humor,  some  one  has  said,  is  occasionally 
to  be  respected,  often  to  be  feared,  and  nearly  always 
to  be  avoided.  7.  Facts  in  the  mind,  says  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge,  are  not  dead  things  in  a  portmanteau;  they  are 
Uve  things  in  a  pond.  8.  Truth  makes  all  things  plain. 
9.  Patience  is  bitter  but  its  fruit  is  sweet.  10.  A  good 
name  is  better  than  a  girdle  of  gold.  11.  Labor  rids  us 
of  three  great  evils:  tediousness,  vice,  and  poverty. 
12.  In  vain  do  you  lead  the  ox  to  the  water,  if  he  is  not 
thirsty.  13.  Many  generations  have  come  and  gone 
since  the  little  Mayflower  lay  rocking  in  yonder  bay, 
with  the  Pilgrim  mothers  and  sisters  looking  out  wist- 
fully over  the  then  lonely  waters,  and  the  children, 
cooped  up  for  many  a  weary  week,  asking  when  at  last 
they  would  be  put  on  shore.  14.  A  wise  man  thinks 
before  he  speaks;  but  a  fool  speaks  and  then  thinks  of 
what  he  has  been  saying.  15.  Disputes  would  not  con- 
tinue so  long,  if  the  wrong  lay  but  on  one  side.  16.  It 
avails  little  to  know  what  ought  to  be  done,  if  you  do 


EXERCISES  87 

not  know  how  it  is  to  be  done.  17.  The  most  original 
modern  authors,  says  Goethe,  are  not  so  because  they 
advance  what  is  new,  but  simply  because  they  know 
how  to  put  what  they  have  to  say,  as  if  it  had  never 
been  said  before.  18.  As  soon  as  the  house  was  full 
and  the  candles  lighted,  my  old  friend  stood  up  and 
looked  about  him  with  that  pleasure  which  a  mind  sea- 
soned with  humanity  naturally  feels  in  itself  at  the  sight 
of  a  multitude  of  people  who  seem  pleased  with  one  an- 
other and  partake  of  the  same  common  enjoyment. 
19.  We  remain  shackled  by  timidity  till  we  have  learned 
to  speak  with  propriety.  20.  The  earth  opens  her  bosom 
to  receive  impartially  the  beggar  and  the  prince.  21. 
I  know  not  what  course  others  may  take;  but  as  for  me 
give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death!  22.  The  planter,  who 
is  man  sent  out  into  the  field  to  gather  food,  is  seldom 
cheered  by  any  idea  of  the  true  dignity  of  his  ministry. 
He  sees  his  bushel  and  his  cart  and  nothing  beyond,  and 
sinks  into  the  farmer  instead  of  the  man  on  the  farm. 
23.  It  is  a  pleasing  sight,  of  a  Sunday  morning,  when 
the  bell  is  sending  its  sober  melody  across  the  quiet 
fields,  to  behold  the  peasantry  in  their  best  finery,  with 
ruddy  faces  and  modest  cheerfulness,  thronging  tran- 
quilly along  the  green  lanes  to  church;  but  it  is  still 
more  pleasing  to  see  them  in  the  evenings,  gathered 
about  their  cottage  doors  and  appearing  to  exult  in  the 
humble  comforts  and  embellishments  which  their  own 
hands  have  spread  around  them.  24.  After  these 
words,  the  dragon,  awful  monster,  flashing  with  blaz- 
ing flames,  came  on  all  wroth  a  second  time  to  meet  his 
hated  foemen. 


88  WORDS  AND  SENTENCES 

XXVI.  Analyze   the  following   sentences  and  parse 

each  word: 

1.  The  moon  was  afloat 

Like  a  golden  boat 
On  the  sea-blue  depths  of  the  sky 
I  When  the  miller  of  Dee 

With  his  children  three 
On  his  fat,  red  horse  rode  by. 
2    Who  lacks  the  art  to  shape  his  thought,  I  hold, 
Were  little  poorer  if  he  lacked  the  thought. 

— Aldrich. 

3.  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones. 

— Shakespeare. 

4.  Errors,  like  straws,  upon  the  surface  flow; 

He  who  would  search  for  pearls  must  dive  below. 

— Dryden. 

5.  The  stars  look  very  cold  about  the  sky, 

And  I  have  many  miles  on  foot  to  fare. — Keats. 

6.  I  read  whatever  bards  have  sung 

Of  lands  beyond  the  sea; 
And  the  bright  days  w^hen  I  was  young 
Come  thronging  back  to  me. — LongfelloWo 

7.  In  Xanadu  did  Kubla  Khan 

A  stately  pleasure-dome  decree 
Where  Alph,  the  sacred  river,  ran 
Through  caverns  measureless  to  man 

Down  to  a  sunless  sea. — Coleridge. 

8.  In  the  moonlight  the  shepherds, 

Soft  lulled  by  the  rills. 
Lie  wrapt  in  their  blankets. 
Asleep  on  the  hills. — Arnold. 


EXERCiSES  ,,,;,,,         89 

9.  Yonder  in  the  heather' tfiere^s  a  bed  for  sleeping, 
Drink  for  one  athirst,  ripe  blackberries  to  eat; 
Yonder  in  the  sun  the  merry  hares  go  leaping, 
And  the  pool  is  clear  for  travel-weary  feet. 

— Ada  Smith. 

10.  The  hare  limped  trembhng  through  the  frozen 

grass; 
And  silent  was  the  flock  in  woolly  fold; 
Numb  were  the  Beadsman's  fingers  while  he  told 
His  rosary,  and  while  his  frosted  breath, 
Like  pious  incense  from  a  censer  old. 
Seemed  taking  flight  for  heaven,  without  a  death, 
Past  the  sweet  Virgin's  picture,  while  his  prayer 

he  saith. — Keats. 

11.  While  you  converse  with  lords  and  dukes, 
I  have  their  betters  here — my  books; 
Fixed  in  an  elbow-chair  at  ease, 

I  choose  companions  as  I  please. 

I'd  rather  have  one  single  shelf 

Than  all  my  friends,  except  yourself; 

For,  after  all  that  can  be  said. 

Our  best  acquaintances  are  the  dead. — Sheridan. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  last  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

AN     INITIAL    nNE~OF     25     CENTc: 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED    FOR    FAILURE  Tr>»^ 
TH,S  BOOK  ON   THE  DATE  D^E       THE  pE^ALTV 
W,LU  mCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 

oCIrd^ue    ™   *'°°   °"   ^-   seventh"o"v 


DEC   14-1932 
DEC  15  ISc  ; 
DEC  161932 
fPV  211933 


SEP    18  1940 
N0V131940M 


I^OV 


^1940 


SEP 


10  J93( 


Sep27'48J5 


FEB 


^3  193Q 


JUN     4 198 

CIRCULATION 


iiiie    V883 

B   4  1984 

6/</ 


R"  5  1985 

LD  21-507n-8,-32 


GENERAL  LIBRARY -U.C.  BERKELEY 


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